Darkness Dawning
by DEfILer-NoX
Summary: An unexpected chain of events leads to Cyclonis asking the Storm Hawks for help and signals the beginning of a worldwide conflict. Will this newly founded fellowship be enough to save Atmos from being literally torn asunder? Piper X Stork - Cyclonis X OC
1. Chapter 1 Escape

I do not own any of the Storm Hawks characters, origional storylines, or merchandise. I do however own the OC's involved in later chapters of this story and therefore must be advised and send confirmation in return for those who with to use the OCs in any of their own future stories.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An unexpected chain of events leads to Cyclonis asking the Storm Hawks for help and signals the beginning of a worldwide conflict. Will this newly founded fellowship be enough to save Atmos from being literally torn asunder?

Cyclonis/Piper X OC Sky Knight

Stork X Piper

(Is rated 'M' for mature scenes, character death and language).

**Storm Hawks**

**Darkness Dawning**

**Chapter 1: ****Escape**

**With Cyclonis…**

Cyclonis stood outside upon her restroom's balcony. She'd been thinking. She'd had never believed that her own Ace would want her dead if she hadn't heard it with her own ears. Dawn would be creeping out soon, and that would mark her end, however, there were those who were still loyal to her rule, and even though it had seemed that she looked down upon these people, it was always the opposite. Often she would seek simple sanctuary in a private friendship, since a publicly known friendship would surly make her seem less iron-fisted, thus infuriating her already rather bloodthirsty generals.

She looked down at the courtyard below her and sighed sadly. Cyclonis had always hoped that her rule would have lasted longer than a few years. Behind her lay a sack of precious belongings, such as old family photographs that she often hid away and other small trinkets to remind herself of the real Cyclonis she had kept locked away for so long.

When she first took the war into her own hands, it seemed fun, hence her infamous background, however all of that changed in time. She began to see past the narrow sighted dreams of Cyclonia's previous rulers and secretly studied the life of the ordinary people of her kingdom. She often left the palace alone, and if not, with the company of a loyal subject who she would class as being a close friend, mainly a member of her guard; a young girl by the name of Kaysha, whom Cyclonis had befriended years before her rise to power.

Cyclonis had heard from Kaysha that rumours were spreading, rumours such as a strange hooded girl only ever showing up around the royal city when Cyclonis had left the palace. More and more people began to act even more wary around her than usual, and some of the guards attempted to use excuses in order to keep her in her quarters at all times.

The Dark Ace's second betrayal began when Cyclonis's friendship with Kaysha went abruptly public. This happened rather suddenly when one of the palace guards refused to let Kaysha pass alongside his master. Cyclonis had the man replaced for questioning his master's will to have a commoner in the royal palace. From that day and several weeks on, the Ace had seemed more aggressive towards Cyclonis, ordering her to reframe from having 'peasants' in her quarters, rather than requesting it as a loyal subject should, and at one point, even going far enough to draw his weapon and engage one of Cyclonis's bodyguards in a brief conflict.

At least another week after the incident which almost cost the Dark Ace his position as leader of the Talons, Kaysha received word that he was planning an sneak assault on Cyclonis herself, within her own quarters. Cyclonis hadn't believed her friend at first, but a reconnaissance mission proved her wrong. The speech to the other Talon leaders was captured on tape, word for word…

A low rumbling sound broke Cyclonis of her thought and prompted her to search for the source. A black and grey clad skimmer bike was parked close to a large fountain in the centre of the courtyard. Cyclonis had requested help from Kaysha in order to escape and find some protection, allies or not. There was a sudden thud and the door to Cyclonis's chamber creaked open slowly.

"Could you have at least asked the guards to stand down?" said Kaysha, squeezing through the small space between the door and the wall. "Grab your things. You'll have to leave now if I'm to guarantee your safety." Cyclonis picked up her sack and slung it over her shoulder. Both of the escapees darted down several flights of stairs and numerous hallways, weaving around the unconscious bodies of Cyclonis's royal guard.

"Well, I take it this is goodbye. I'll see you around." whispered Kaysha, placing her hand out. Cyclonis took hold of Kaysha's hand and shook it.

"I'll miss spending time with my friends. Take care." She replied. With that, Cyclonis started the engine of the skimmer bike and turned away from her once proud life. She was now an outlaw, and knowing that the Dark Ace, who was next in line for the throne since Cyclonis had no family members, was after her life as well as her throne, there would surely be a rather pricy bounty on her head…

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**With the Storm hawks…**

"Finn!" shouted Piper, crossing her arms and looming over his bed, disappointed. Finn lazily opened his eyes and then jumped back into the wall suddenly when he noticed it was Piper. "You're supposed to be helping with finding crystals!" Finn made a slow, drowsy nod and slumped off his bed, just about lopping over completely and knocking piper over in the process.

"Don't worry… (Yawn) …I'm on it…" he replied, shuffling his way down the hallway and down the exit bridge into the sweltering heat of Terra Saharr. A lot of skimmer pilots raced there on a daily basis and most of them would drop crystals that they probably would have never used in the first place. On top of that, there were a lot of merchants in Saharr, giving travellers a wide range of sometimes rare and valuable items.

Stork, Junko and Aerrow were already outside, kicking and sweeping away sand, just to either have it cover the area _again_ or have it fly up into their faces. Stork scuttled back into the ship with a handful of crystals, as he had a strange gift for finding strange things, every few minutes, where it would usually take at least twenty minutes for anyone else.

Aerrow raised his hand above his face to look back at the ship. He spotted two silhouetted figures in the distance, one of which was stumbling and tripping all over the place. '_Finn's been skipping work again"_ thought Aerrow, kicking another pile of sand and getting a reply in the form of temporary blindness.

"Finn, can you hurry up!? This isn't easy to do!" shouted Junko, who then tripped over Stork, who had managed to get in the wrong place at the wrong time. There was a bone shattering 'CRUNCH!' and stork was face-flat in the sand, arms clasped over his head, making a rather muffled hissing sound that sounded a lot like cursing. "Oops, sorry…" Junko whispered, getting up and hauling Stork back to his feet. Stork shot him an angry glare and dusted himself off.

In fact, Stork had been acting strangely as of late. His pessimistic nature had been disappearing, but he'd started to become easily agitated and it was getting worse and worse each time the team was engaged in battle or was sent to find some 'artefact of great importance'. Piper was the only one actually aware of Stork getting worse. Everyone else just saw it as some kind of phase he was going through, but Piper really thought something was well and truly getting to him. The strangest thing about it all was that he only acted like that around the crew. He was still his stuttering, pessimistic self whenever he talked with anyone who wasn't part of the crew, but he refuses to speak with anyone but Piper when working inside the ship.

Stork turned back around and shifted to a new area to scavenge with a mutter of _"bloody oaf!"_ under his breath. Junko was taken back a little by Stork's remark, but considering the situation, he took it in. Finn slumped down next to Aerrow and shuffled the sand around, creating a large cloud enveloping his entire body. Slowly, he stood back up and held a large piece of scrap metal, bearing the Cyclonian emblem. Everyone paused.

"There. I found something. Can I go back to bed now?" groaned Finn, still holding the metal shard to Aerrow's face. Aerrow took the piece of metal and examined it closely.

"Sure Finn. You can go to bed now." He replied. As Finn headed back to the ship, the rest of the gang, save Stork, who simply turned his head a little so he could hear what they were talking about.

"This isn't good." whispered Piper, who took her turn to examine the metal. "This piece was only a little under the sand. That means that Cyclonian's are nearby. Should we see what they're up to?" She turned back to Aerrow, who was currently looking through a pair of makeshift binoculars.

"Yeah, if the Cyclonians are nearby, then they could be spying on us. We best scout the area in groups. I'll take Junko and Radar. Finn's gone back to the ship and Stork won't talk to anyone but Piper, which leaves those two with you." He replied, still looking through the binoculars and surveying the area around them. Piper nodded and headed back to the ship, followed closely by Stork, who was once again heading back with a handful of crystals.

Piper darted inside the ship and into Finn's room, grabbing him and pushing him back out of his door. Finn gave a long, deep moan and cracked his knuckles.

"Aw, come on! I didn't even make it to bed that time." He complained. Piper gave him a light slap to wake him up and Stork muttered _"wake up already!"_ Finn, with the help from Piper and stork, staggered to his skimmer, where he was introduced to Piper's heliscooter and stork's safety-buggy's horns. Finn shot upright and fell off his seat, ending with a loud, painful face-plant into the ground.

"What the hell was that for!?" he shouted, rubbing his forehead vigorously. "…I might be tired, but I'm not deaf!" Piper giggled, and Stork couldn't help but show a cheeky grin. Now agitated, Finn revved his engine loudly and shot forwards, leaving Stork and Piper behind in a cloud of exhaust smoke. When the smoke cleared, the two dusted themselves off and followed him, darting off, once again, into the heat of the Saharr desert.

"So, um…Stork?" started Piper, "…What's up? You've not been talking to anyone lately. Is something wrong?" Stork turned away and frowned.

"_I'm sick of being left out all the time."_ He said, slowing his skimmer a little.

"What?" Piper asked, leaning in closer so she could hear over the roar of his engine and her rotor-blades. Stork turned around to face her again.

"I'm sick of being left out all the time…" he repeated. Piper raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"But you're not left out. You…"

"…Guard the ship and fix stuff!" Stork finished for her. "I know, and that's how I'm left out. Nobody thinks that I can actually fight! I want to go out and do something. Be 'one of the heroes' for once, but no one lets me because I look _'scrawny'_. You're the only person who doesn't judge me because of how I look." He continued, pointing out the word 'scrawny' with a hateful passion. Piper smiled for a short moment.

"So, you're saying that I'm the only person you can trust to not judge your looks? Show me some muscle." She said, poking his arm playfully with her energy staff. Stork looked away again, and then turned back when he noticed that she hadn't stopped poking him in the arm. Regretfully, he pushed piper's staff away and lifted his left sleeve and flexed his arm. To Piper's surprise, Stork wasn't as weak as he looked on the outside. The muscle showed as much as Storks grin, which grew wider when he saw the surprise hit Piper's face.

"WOW! You're clothes don't help with the physique. It hides everything!" Piper said, poking his now flexed arm and examining it.

"N-nah, i-it's just a style." He stuttered. It would seem that being able to get clear of his problems for a brief time would bring back the Stork everyone knew, but the chances of him remaining happy while working for Aerrow until he saw some real action would be somewhat slim. Stork pulled his sleeve back down over his arm, which returned to its apparently weak arms. Piper blushed slightly and returned to surveying the barren desert landscape.

"I really didn't expect to see so much muscle. Not that I'm judging how you look, but still…" she said, before being cut off by a chant of _'Stork an' Piper, sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G…!"_ Finn had been following them the whole way from the ship. Stork and Piper turned their heads and shot an eerie glare at Finn, who was currently in a fit of maniacal laughter. Eventually, everything calmed down when Stork had stopped trying to beat Finn's face with a wrench for making fun of him.

"Anyways…" Finn began, "…that's one nice arm. Is it the same all over you body or is it just that arm?" Stork picked his wrench back up again in a menacing manner, encouraging Finn to veer his skimmer a little further away from him.

"Hey, what's that?" Piper interrupted, pointing to an area of ground that was indented, as if something had crashed. The trio lowered their speed and flew closer for a better view. Half buried in the sand was a black and grey clad skimmer bike with three of it's wings shattered and strewn over the entire area and the fourth was completely gone. The front wheel was missing and a lot of the armour plating was ripped to shreds. As they continued forwards, there were several small dents in the sand.

"Footprints?" asked Finn, turning to Stork, who currently had hold of the binoculars. "Hey, wait, I see something!" Closer inspection of the area further north revealed a half buried piece of grey cloth.

"Hey! That's a p-person!" stuttered Stork, pointing to the cloth on the ground. The three landed their skimmers and rushed over to the abandoned body on the ground. As Piper leant in to turn the body over, she saw a lock of dark, violet hair poking out from the sand, as well as the bottom of a long, crystal staff. She hastily turned the body and drew her weapon at the sight.

"Cyclonis!?..."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Enemy of my Enemy is my **ex-Enemy**

Slowly but surely, everything seemed to focus. Cyclonis had found herself in a strange room. There were people there too, but her eyesight was far too blurred to make out the faces.

"Wh…where am I? Damn! Why does my head hurt so much? It feels like my brain's trying to crawl out of my skull." She muttered, still half unconscious and confused.

"You're on the Condor, and you're not a guest, so stop complaining." replied a familiar female voice. As Cyclonis went to give her eyes some shade from the sun, she noticed that she couldn't move her arms. Neither could she move her legs. Then again, if she really was where she had been told she was, she hadn't expected anything different. Well, apart from death, which she would have expected from anyone else.

"Storm…hawks?" she said, shaking her head a little to regain focus. Right enough, when she regained her sight, she was staring at Aerrow and Piper, who were both standing over her, weapons drawn and faces like thunder. Stork turned and grinned rather happily.

"Yes, we are. And you'll find that there's nothing you can do about it any more!" he replied. Cyclonis smiled, which rendered Stork, Aerrow and Piper momentarily confused.

"Good. If it had been one of my men, I'd be _long_ gone by now." Piper and Aerrow were reduced to complete astonishment and Stork had turned around muttering _"I'm going to pretend that didn't just happen."_ Suddenly, Piper broke free of her blinding confusion and pointed her energy-staff to Cyclonis' throat. Cyclonis stretched her head away and accidentally gave out a small squeak from her throat as the point of Piper's staff got closer.

"What Do you mean 'Long gone'? Wait…No way! You were de-throned!?" HA!" Piper started to laugh out loud at the thought of Cyclonis being banished from her _own_ Terra.

"Actually, no…" replied Cyclonis, returning a cheeky grin to a once again stunned Piper. "…very good guess though. Actually, the Dark Ace was going to assassinate me, so I fled Cyclonia, but I was tracked and shot down in that stupid, fucking desert!" she continued to rant. Aerrow was next to break out of his confusion.

"Wait, wait, wait! Why would he want you dead? Doesn't he work as you right hand man?" he asked, lowering his weapon a little. Cyclonis gave out a sigh and turned her head away from him.

"Trust me, if I told you, you'd never believe me anyways, so…" Piper then stuck the point of her staff at her throat again. "OK! Ok, I'll say it! I had a friend in the city. The Ace didn't like me being distracted from my work, so he said that if I was no longer powerful enough to rule, I shouldn't be allowed to. In other words, have me killed so he can take my place."

Piper, Aerrow and Stork all looked at each other, eyebrows raised and mouths gaping open a little.

"I was going to get some help…" Cyclonis continued, "…But the chances of running into someone who didn't want me dead anyway was slim. You however, don't want me dead, right?" Her eyes darted from Aerrow to Piper to Stork in a scared manner, as if she expected then to say that they did. After all, she's been looming over them all the time, sending soldier after soldier to fight them.

As Piper went to give Cyclonis a jolt of electricity with her staff, Aerrow grabbed her arm and shook his head.

"No Piper! You know as much as I do that we need her alive. If the Dark Ace really has taken over, then we're in for a much more intense fight. We'll need her to help take out the Ace." He said, pushing Piper's arm down and away from Cyclonis' neck, which was greeted with a sigh of relief. "Besides, there's business to be done. Stork, think you can handle the ship _and_ our captive?" Stork turned his head a little and muttered _"Like always?"_ behind gritted teeth.

"Actually," started Piper, taking Stork's shoulder. "…I'll watch Cyclonis while you guys look for spies. Even stork needs little excitement now and then, right Stork?" Piper winked at stork, which was replied with a gleeful smile.

"I guess so. We'll only be away for half an hour or so. I wouldn't expect anyone to go for a hasty attack on the Condor while we're gone. If anyone does, you know what to do." Aerrow replied.

"I…I'll get the s…skimmers ready!" Stork said, surely returning to his old self. "Thanks Piper." Piper smiled back at Stork and gave him thumbs up before he left from the room. As Aerrow left the room, Cyclonis turned to Piper.

"So, what was all that about?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. Piper turned and also raised an eyebrow.

"What was what about?"

"That with…um…Stork is it?" Piper sat down on a nearby seat and put her energy staff down.

"That? Nobody lets him do anything on the ship because his clothes make him look scrawny." Cyclonis was still holding her eyebrow up.

"Yeah…" she replied. "…But isn't he just a little? Last thing I'd expect from him is…"

"Muscle? He's got plenty." Piper cut in.

"Seems you two are pretty close." Started Cyclonis again, changing the subject. "Piper gave Cyclonis a menacing look.

"And what are you implying by that?" she asked, putting her hand closer to her staff. Cyclonis stopped and blushed.

"Hey! I'm not implying anything like that! I meant close friends you idiot!" She shouted, returning Piper's glare. Piper grinned.

"But not as close as you and the Ace were, right?" she taunted with a cheeky tone, which above all, made Cyclonis' face turn bright red with embarrassment.

"How dare you say that I had a close relationship with one of my generals! If anything, he was an expendable subordinate! If I had my staff on my, id shove it right down your fucking throat!" She ranted, reducing Piper to a fit of hysterical laughter on the ground. When Piper finally regained herself, she sat back on her seat and looked at the frowning Cyclonis.

"Ah, come on! You know I was just making fun. No harm done." She stated, making Cyclonis turn her head away from her for a moment. "Hungry?" she continued. Cyclonis tilted her head slightly and looked over to Piper.

"Um…Yes, just a little. Why?" Cyclonis replied.

"I was just wondering. I am, so I wanted to know if you needed anything too."

"Well, that's a kind gesture for someone assigned for prisoner watch duties."

"Well, we need you alive, don't we. And I'm one of the good guys. That's how us 'good guys and girls' treat people, even prisoners." Piper rummaged around in a small sack on the table and pulled out two bars of chocolate. She threw one bar of chocolate onto Cyclonis' lap and began munching on the other. Cyclonis gave her an agitated stare.

"Um, thanks. And how am I supposed to eat this exactly? I think it might help if my hands could reach my face, thank you!" she complained, wriggling around to attract Piper's attention. After a while of squirming, Piper eventually let Cyclonis' arms free and returned to eating. Cyclonis, glad that her arms were now usable, grabbed the chocolate bar and peeled back the wrapper, revealing a dark chocolate bar. She snapped the corner off and popped into her mouth with a look of delight on her face.

"That's the first I've eaten in a day. Thanks." Piper turned, and to Cyclonis' surprise, she was smiling.

"No problem." She said, putting another piece of chocolate in her mouth.

"You're not half bad, you know that?" said Cyclonis out of the blue. Piper almost choked on her sweet and turned to her captive, who now had her hands behind her head.

"How'd _you_ of all people figure that I was nice?" she darted out with surprise. Cyclonis smiled and waved her fingers.

"Well, you set me loose a little, and you fed me. Not to mention that I spent a few days with you on this ship before all of this. It was actually fun having you for a friend, until my plans unfolded." She frowned a little and looked away. "Sorry about that." Piper put her chocolate bar on the table next to her to prevent her from choking on any more.

"Say what?"

"Sorry…why?"

"You? Saying sorry to us!?"

"No actually," Cyclonis gave a small smile in Piper's direction. "Just you, and maybe Finn. He seemed to like that disguise." Piper's jaw dropped so much that it hurt. For once in her life, Cyclonis apologised? Piper gave Cyclonis a glare and turned the other way. Five minutes later, she turned around to speak to Cyclonis and she wasn't there. She squeaked an _'Oh shit!'_ Piper opened the room's door, peering out to see if there were any signs of Cyclonis. Suddenly, something hit Piper's shoulder with a shout of "BOO!" Piper jumped through the door into the hallway, grabbing her weapon on her way out and pointing it behind her.

"Cyclonis!!" she fumed, pointing the end of her staff back towards Cyclonis' face.

"Aw, come on! Cant you take a harmless joke?" Cyclonis laughed, putting her arms up above her head. Piper nudged her back into the room, walked in and locked the door.

"How did you manage to get free!?" she asked keeping her staff at the ready, just in case Cyclonis made another stupid move. Cyclonis suppressed her laughter for a moment.

"You did let my arms free, you know?" she stuttered, once again, waving her fingers at Piper. "I just couldn't resist having some fun." Piper scowled and looked at her for a moment…and let out a small giggle. Cyclonis smiled and started to laugh again.

"Be…haha…be quiet already!" Piper stuttered through her giggling, which shortly ended in a full-blown fit of laughter. Both Cyclonis and Piper were reduced to tears. "You…You r-really caught me off guard there, hahaha!" Cyclonis was unable to reply, as she was to busy trying to regain her breath. "Ok, ok. T…that's enough joking for now." Piper continued, sitting down and holding her breath in a frantic attempt to stop laughing at her own falter.

"Fine, but you have to admit, that was quite funny." Cyclonis replied, wiping the last of the water from her eyes. Piper nodded.

"Let's just be quiet until the guys get…" Piper was cut off but the sound of the entry doors opening. She unlocked the door and peeked around the corner, followed by Cyclonis.

"Speak of the devil, here they are now." She said, smiling at Piper, who cleared her throat and tried her hardest to not look at Cyclonis, who was peeking around past her shoulder.

"You lot are back early. Did something happen?" she asked, moving out into the hallway. Aerrow turned with a smile.

"Yup, we found the spies and sent the…HEY!" She drew his weapons and readied himself for battle when he noticed that Cyclonis was outside the room, now standing next to Piper. Cyclonis took at step back and waved her hands in front of her.

"Hey, I don't want to fight! Can't you give a girl a chance!?" She stated, taking another step back and to her right, so she was now hiding behind Piper.

"Don't worry Aerrow," Piper started, moving away from Cyclonis who followed her again so that she wouldn't be exposed. "…She hasn't been a nuisance…yet, anyway." Aerrow put his weapons back into their sheaths, making Cyclonis give out another sigh of relief.

"Ok, I don't want trouble." She started. "like I said to you before, I just need some help. You don't mind that, right?" Her voice was quiet and she clasped her hands together in a pleading motion. Aerrow looked at her with a frown, which was followed by Finn and Stork's scowling. "I'll understand if you don't, But please? You are the 'good guys' after all?"

"Hmmm…" stork growled. "You really think this is a good idea? Letting someone like Cyclonis wander free in the Condor?" Aerrow peered at Cyclonis again.

"Fine, But it depends on your actions. If Piper takes you as being little of a threat, then I'll take her word for it, But if there's even one _slight_ step out of line, then you'll be locked up in that room until we get to the Supreme Court of Atmos." There was a small squeak of terror from behind Piper as Cyclonis jolted to attention and clasped her hands behind her back.

"Uh…don't worry. I…I wont do anything out of line." She said, trying her best to hold back a smile. "And thank you, for your help." Aerrow gave her one last serious look and headed down the hallway, into the Bridge. Following him were Radarr, Finn, Stork and Piper, who stayed close to Cyclonis, just in case she really did try to make a break for it. The night would be creeping in soon, and they needed to keep Cyclonis under strict supervision. Piper, having already said that she'd look over Cyclonis, was now in charge of that, and she wouldn't be able to do it alone…

* * *

**Ok, so...**

**Please tell me what you think of the story so far. Constuctive critisism is openly welcomed.**

**Thanks for reading :)**


	3. Chapter 3: The Encounter

**Chapter 3: ****The Encounter**

It had been two hours since Cyclonis had fallen asleep. Piper had spent the whole day watching over her, trying to keep her out of all kinds of trouble. To begin with, Cyclonis had been mucking around with Piper's crystals, causing an explosion which did more damage to the Condor than it had done to her. Then, she managed to get in a row with Stork for messing about in the engine rooms when she decided to be curious and see what made the whole ship tick. At another point, she almost lost Aerrow's skimmer because she decided to try some 'repairs' on it.

If anything, Piper was just glad that this day had come to a halt. Her shift was over, and it was time for Stork's night-watch to start. Piper felt that Stork would have been the perfect candidate for the job because he was more reliable than the other crewmembers. For instance, Finn would have just wandered off to do something more interesting, and Radar would have been too curious for his own good. Stork however, was neither too curious or too thrill-seeking to give up on a good opportunity to sit down and read a few books while making sure his captive wouldn't pull any tricks, and with his still changed attitude, he'd be far more likely to stand up to troublemakers given the chance.

There was a knock on the door, making Cyclonis turn over to face the wall. The door opened to reveal the green skinned Merb, holding a set of small books. Piper gave a relieving sigh and stood up from the chair she had been sitting on.

"Are you sure that you're ok with staying up all night? You do know that we'll need you to pilot the Condor in the morning?" she asked, stretching her arms out until they cracked. Stork nodded.

"D…Don't worry." He replied semi-confidently. "I'll be fine w…watching over her for a few hours." Piper smiled at him.

"Ok. Thanks for helping out. I didn't want to have to ask Finn to do guard duty. God knows what we'd be in store for tomorrow if he was watching her."

"I…It was nothing, really."

"Hey, come on. Give yourself some credit already. You've earned it for all you've done for the team." Piper took hold of Stork's shoulder and smiled at him gently. Stork's face lit up a little and he took her hand.

For a while now, Stork had taken note of how kind Piper had been to him throughout his changes. She'd helped him with chores, given him time off, and just six hours ago, she had given him a chance to actually assist the rest of the team in a sortie. Over his long dilemma, he'd grown closer to her, and he felt like it was something a little different than 'just friends'. He felt as if he really liked her, as in _'liked'_ her. He couldn't help but hope that she felt the same, hence the fact she'd been so kind to him aver the last few weeks. Stork broke out of his thought and let go of Piper, who was now also blushing.

"Uh, P…Piper?" Stork stuttered as his face lighted up a little more. He turned his head slightly to hide his cheeks. "I need to t…tell you something, um, important." Piper looked at him again kindly.

"What is it?" she asked. Stork gulped and was just about to say something when Cyclonis turned over again in her sleep, curling up in discomfort. "Well?"

"Um…" Stork took another look at Cyclonis, and then back to Piper. "…Actually, n…never mind. It's not that important." Piper took a look at Cyclonis again and then back to Stork.

"You do know you can tell me anything, right? After all, that's what friends are for." Piper whispered, making sure that Cyclonis wasn't disturbed again.

"Nah." Stork replied softly. "I…its ok. Don't work yourself up about it." Piper nodded and headed out of the door and down the hallway to her own room. Stork sat down on the seat and sighed sadly. He looked at his books, and then smacked them over his head. _'Damn it Stork! That was the worst timing EVER!'_ he thought to himself, slumping back onto the seats back. "I've got the most horrible feeling that it'll be a _long_ night tonight…"

**The next day…**

Aerrow, Piper, Finn and Junko were all awake at seven o'clock in the morning. Radar was sleeping on Aerrow's skimmer bike, and Stork was sprawled out across the chair he'd been sitting on the previous night, still holding his 'survival guide for the common Merb' book. Cyclonis was still in bed, in a comfortable sleep. Piper was busy cooking breakfast, while Aerrow checked the map and Junko and Finn started helping with the Condor's maintenance.

A loud crash sent Radar flying into the air with fright and Stork, who had spent some few hours resting darted upwards, hitting his head off the room's piping, and Cyclonis did the same, only she thumped her head off the railing above her bed. Stork threw open the door, rubbing his head and holding out his wrench.

"Ok! What….what the hell?" Cyclonis mumbled, rubbing her eyes and looking at the ground. The whole hall floor was covered in spare nuts and bolts, extra pipes, some broken or damaged armour and several wooden planks.

"Anyone mind telling us what's going on?" Stork growled, moving over into the bridge and stepping over Finn, who was lucky enough to doge Junko as he tripped over him. He was soon followed by Cyclonis, who was fortunate to be given a disguise in the form of a Storm Hawks costume, however much Piper disliked having to make it for her. Aerrow turned away from the map.

"Stork! Just the man I need. Have you got any idea where we are?" Stork put his hand to his chin and looked at the map, and then out of the windscreen. The clouds were unusually thick, and there was an area on the map where there were no Terras marked. He pressed his finger on the area and kept thinking.

"I'd imagine we're here, since the clouds are far too dense and there aren't any Terras in sight." He replied. Aerrow looked out of the windscreen suspiciously. He had the feeling that they were being watched. He didn't know who by, and if it was Cyclonians, then the Condor would have already been attacked. Cyclonis walked up beside him.

"I don't trust this." She whispered. Aerrow turned for a moment with a raised eyebrow, and then turned back. He knew that she felt the same way he did about this blank spot on the map. "I've got a really horrible gut feeling that we're being watch…" There was a rumble and a loud 'BANG'. The Condor swayed to the left and then to the right, sending Piper reeling off her feet and Fin rolling from one side of the hallway to the other. Stork and Aerrow grabbed onto the steer and pulled to the left as hard as they could, for the Condor was spiralling out of control to the right, sending everyone off their feet and into a heap on the ground. Eventually, the ship stopped turning. In fact, it stopped moving.

"What was that!?" Junko shouted, putting on his knuckle dusters and running to check on the skimmers and Radar. Cyclonis hauled herself onto her feet and grasped her arm with a hiss of pain. A piece of Spare metal had flown across the deck and cut into her arm just above the left elbow.

"Damn! Just when you get that feeling, huh?" she shouted, ripping her left sleeve off and wrapping it tightly around her arm.

Stork took out his ex-ray binoculars and surveyed the area, trying to see if he could get his vision past the clouds, and surely enough, there was something down there. A single skimmer, white and gold, well armoured and standing upon it was a knight like figure, covered in thick, durable armour which was the same colour scheme as his bike.

"I think we have a…a big problem." Stork stuttered out, pointing forwards at the approaching sky knight. As the skimmer came into view for al to see, it stopped. The rider placed his sword blade-down on his bike and stood there, unflinching and emotionless. Aerrow peered out at the figure and surveyed his lack of movement.

"If I'm not mistaken, I'd believe he's waiting for us to come to him." He said, looking behind him to find his other blade. Finn shook his arms towards Aerrow.

"No! Absolutely not! I'm not going up against some guy that can take down the whole Condor in a single attack!" Piper hit Finn square in the chest leaving him wheezing for a moment. "Ok, I'll do it! I better get a reward if we take this guy down though." Stork glared at the figure and growled.

"Stork, we need you to watch the Condor while we clear the path. Can you handle it?" asked Aerrow. Stork gave Aerrow a scowl and turned back to the steering wheel, now holding a sad, longing face. He always watched them go into battle, and it was the same story every time; He had to watch the ship. Aerrow raised an eyebrow at him and turned to exit the bridge. Piper gave a sad frown and followed Aerrow out, leaving Stork alone with Cyclonis once again.

The four sky-knights readied their vehicles and darted off the edge of the deck, releasing their wings and soaring towards the armoured man. When they arrived, the knight was still perfectly still. For about five minutes, they just hovered there, waiting for the first move. There was then a muffled 'Humph!' noise and the knight flew forwards at a tremendous speed, drawing his blade from underneath him and slamming it against Aerrow's twin blades. The energy that the opposing knight's blade gave off crackled with power, and in a single swipe, Aerrow was sent flying from his Skimmer and into the air.

Stork gasped as he watched Radar speed over and catch an unconscious Aerrow. Cyclonis gave a frightened 'eep!' and put her hands to her mouth. She had a price on her head, and if _this_ was a mere bounty hunter, then she'd surely be dead before the next morning. Finn, Piper and Junko all backed away as Radar headed back to the Condor with Aerrow. The knight then returned to his pose, now retracting a long, thick piece of metal from his upper and lower arm, creating a two-piece shield. Stork gave an irritated growl. He was the only other person on the ship who had his own ride and he was the only other person on the ship that could possibly try and fight, since Cyclonis was to scared to step outside in case someone tried to assassinate her.

Stork let go of the wheel and darted down through the doors and into the hangar, where his Stork-Mobile lay, clean and untouched. He grinned and revved the engine loud, which brought a smile to his face, and then drove over the deck and into the fray. Cyclonis watched closely as stork pulled a thick, metal, makeshift lance from the side of his Skimmer, setting it up, aiming it for the knight's chest. Darting down at a great speed, Stork unfolded the rotors on his wheels and boosted his speed, sending him directly towards the white-clad knight below. With the blink of an eye, Stork's lance hit the unsuspecting knight in the chest, sending him hurtling down through the clouds.

There was a faint crash sound from below. Piper, Stork, Finn and Junko all slowly lowered their bikes and the sight that revealed itself to them was astonishing. Below them was a city of marble, and gold and silvers, laced with expensive looking decorations and foods, huge buildings and a large wall surrounding the city. In the wall was what a gate was once. The whole left side was shattered and strewn across the ground and the knight was struggling to regain his balance.

There was complete silence as everyone but Stork's jaw dropped in awe. Stork was grinning wickedly, with his bent and buckled lance by his side. Piper blushed and looked at stork, whose sleeves were pulled up, revealing not so much, but not too little muscle. There was a cheer of "Way to go Stork!" from Junko and the horn of the Condor sounded, because Cyclonis had found It the night before when she leant against it.

The group headed to the Condor and escorted it down to the city, looking in amazement at the surroundings. When the team landed the ship, they were quickly surrounded by soldiers. Finn, Stork and Junko all raised their arms, and Cyclonis hid behind the metal girding below the windscreen. There was a metallic rustle as the knight stood back up, his breastplate falling to pieces and his helmet and shield cracked. For a moment the knight stood and stared at Piper, then Junko and Finn, and finally Stork, in which he gave out a cheerful laugh and patted him on the shoulder.

"Bravo, bravo!" he said from behind his cracked mask. "…It's an honour to have such noble and powerful sky-knights join us in our great city." Piper and Finn simultaneously looked at each other, as did Stork and Junko, along with Cyclonis and Radar.

"What do you mean by 'Join you in your great city'?" Piper asked curiously, gripping her weapon tightly. The knight gave out another small laugh.

"Don't be alarmed, please. We mean it as a gesture of passage into and from Terra Mystica, without any further battles." Piper's face lit with glee.

"Terra WHAT!?" she shouted, smiling so much that Stork was pretty sure it was hurting her face. "Oh my God! _THE_ Terra Mystica? Home to some of the greatest crystal producers and wielders on the planet?! Awesome!" she continued to squeal. Aerrow awoke and looked up just as the knight took of his damaged helmet. Slicked-back blonde hair shone in the sunlight and the pattern from the man's eye continued down the side of his face and onto his neck. He grinned and swept his hand over his hair again.

"Of course m'lady. I am sure that there will be something here for all of you're friends here too. We have the 'Golden Star' inn, the many street markets, and of course, our pride and joy, the Holy Temple of Arterios." The Knight was suddenly cut off from his speech by the sound of a smashing bowl. A boy, around fifteen in age, with strikingly light blue, long hair which was tied in three points and wearing clothes that could pass as sky knight's basic armour stood staring into the windscreen of the ship at Cyclonis.

"Cyclonis?" he said, a smile brewing on his face. "…no way…"

* * *

**I'm very happy with those of you who have helped me with problems in my previous storis and also for those of you who have taken the time to read my story.**

**Anyways, chapter four should be coming out very soon, so keep on watching, i'll be writing for you...**


	4. Chapter 4: Old Friends, New Friends

**Chapter 4: ****Old Friends, New Friends**

The blue-haired boy took a running leap onto the deck of the Condor with a wide smile over his face. Cyclonis raised her eyebrow and stared strangely at him.

"Cyclonis? Is that really you?" he shouted through the glass. Cyclonis looked at the boy harder and tried to think if she really had known this person once, or if he was some kind of lunatic. Suddenly, the memory snapped into place…

**Cyclonis' memory**

It was a bright day. The younger Cyclonis had been outside with her friends, playing around the shopping stalls and jumping around on the flat, terraced rooftops.

"Hey. Watch it there. It's tricky stuff up here. You don't want to jump from a high roof and land wrong. I learned that the hard way." said the blue haired boy next to her. He jumped down onto the lower roof and held out his arms. Cyclonis looked down and then looked over the edge of the house. It was a surprisingly long drop, which just made Cyclonis even more scared.

"You'll catch me if I fall, right?" she asked, trying to tear her eyes away from the potentially dangerous drop. The blue haired boy gave a friendly smile and nodded. Cyclonis shuffled to the edge and hopped over. There was only a light thump on the rooftop when she landed, in part to her friend catching her in mid fall.

"There, see. It wasn't so bad, was it?" he said, still bearing his friendly smile. Cyclonis chuckled a little.

"I guess not." She laughed. "Hey, I don't see you around here often. What's your name? Where do you live?" The boy turned and smiled again.

"Oh, right. Sorry about that. I forgot my manners." He replied. "My name's Aelric. I only moved in here a few days ago with my parents. What about you?" Cyclonis jumped up and sat on the crate to her right.

"I'm Cyclonis. My mother comes here often, but my dad stays in the palace all the time." Aelric was taken aback.

"Wait, did you just say…'Palace'?" he asked, giving her a slightly strange look. Cyclonis nodded and smiled. Aelric beamed.

"Yup! In Cyclonia, anyways." She replied casually.

"No way!" Aelric said in a rather high voice. "_You're_ a princess? You don't seem like all the other rulers. Wow! My first friend here is the heir to the Cyclonian throne. This is awesome!"…

**Present time**

Cyclonis snapped out of her daydream with a cheerful smile.

"Aelric?!" she asked happily. Aelric's smile widened and he darted around the deck looking for a way inside. Eventually, after gaining several strange looks by Cyclonis, Radar and Aerrow, he found the door inside. He darted in and instantly stood on a spare pipe that was dropped during the fight. There was a short yelp and a thud. Aelric slipped on the pipe and landed face-flat on the floor. Cyclonis winced at the sight as Aelric got back up and cricked his neck around.

"_Ow! Fuck! that smarts!"_ he said under his breath, hoping that his old friend wouldn't have to hear him cursing his own foolishness. "So…um…sorry, I haven't a clue where to start." Cyclonis chuckled and smiled.

"Me neither, so you're fine there." There was a moment of silence. Aerrow and Radar looked up at Cyclonis and Aelric, who were still just standing around the bay area trying to think of something to say to each other.

"So…" Aelric started. "…what's been happening over the years? I never thought I'd see you visit again." Cyclonis stopped smiling and frowned.

"Aelric, I'm not here to visit. These people are my escort." She replied. Aelric frowned playfully.

"aww, and I was really hoping I could show you around." He said, pretending to be sad by making a funny frowning face. Cyclonis almost started to laugh again until she focused on what she was trying to say.

"Please, you don't understand. These are the Storm Hawks…" Aelric's face turned from mock sorrow to shock and in an instant, he turned and drew an energy blade to Aerrow's throat.

"If you want her, you'll have to go through me!" he said, pushing his blade closer to Aerrow's throat. Cyclonis ran forwards and grabbed Aelric, hauling him back and making him drop his weapon.

"No Aelric! They need to do what they need to do. I'm calling my part in the war quits. I turned _myself_ in." Aelric stopped and looked at Cyclonis with a serious face.

"I don't care. I'm not going to let them do _anything_ to you! I've spent years waiting to see you again, and I'm not letting some 'bounty hunter' get to you." Aerrow got up and looked at Aelric angrily. Cyclonis frowned and took hold of Aelric's shoulder lightly.

"Please stand down. I don't want anyone else to suffer for _my_ protection. I'm letting them take me in, even if I have to force you out of my way." Aelric looked at his friend and lowered his head.

"Sorry. I'm just a little worked up about meeting you again." Aerrow thought for a second and then took hold of Aelric's other shoulder.

"Maybe we'll stay around for a while." There was a tug on his trouser leg and he was made to look outside at Piper with her massive, gleeful grin, looking very fascinated in the Terra and its customs by Radarr. "…Um, ok…yeah. I'd imagine that we'll be staying a while." Aelric looked up at Aerrow again.

"You're sure right? No take-backs!?" he asked. Arrow nodded, turning his attention back to Aelric.

"We'll probably have to leave when Piper finishes her research, which could take weeks in a place like this." Aelric and Cyclonis smiled at each other and were soon walking out of the Condor together and jumping over the deck onto the sandy ground.

Aerrow and Radar joined the rest of the crew on the ground. Piper was beaming with excitement, Stork was examining the area of impact on the Condor and Finn and Junko were mucking around like always, playing punch me, punch you in the background.

"Ok Stork, what's the damage report?" asked Aerrow. Stork turned with a rather bored look.

"Hmm, it would seem that we need some new armour, obviously, but the…" Stork was cut off by the talking of another person, who had happened to sneak up behind him.

"…the crystal energy conversion-chamber in your right engine could use some serious fixing up, eh. Also, the armour you have on your engines is terrible. It's all rusty and I doubt you'll be able to take her for another spin without the need to replace it all, eh." said the Blizzarian, who was now standing in Stork's place. Stork jumped back up and glared at the Blizzarian, rubbing his head and wiping himself down. "…oh, sorry about that, eh." Aerrow stood for a moment looking at the new arrival with a raised eyebrow.

"Um…you? Aelric is it?" Aelric turned and nodded happily. "You wouldn't know who this guy is, would you?" Aelric gave another smile and walked over to the Blizzarian, took off his green trucker-hat and started ruffling his hair.

"Sorry, I didn't introduce you to my squad." He said as the Blizzarian threw Aelric's hand off his head and put his hat back on. "This is Mortz, our mechanic." Martz waved and smiled at Aerrow, who was still a little confused at how he managed to sneak up on everyone without having been spotted.

"We'll show you the rest of the team, eh. Get you familiar with the terra, eh." He said in his distinctive Canadian accent. Aerrow scratched his head in thought.

"Well, if you claim to be the sky knights here, who's that guy?" he asked, pointing over to the armour clad man, who was pointing out all f the different shopping stalls and inns. Aelric looked over at the armoured man and sighed.

"That would be my trainer, Tarin." He started. "He's the guard of the city, as you well know according to the damage he did you your Ship." Suddenly there was a yelp and then a violent thud. Finn was lying on his back on the ground, pinned down by another Merb. She grinned evilly and put her face right up to Finn's, which was turning bright red with the current position the two happened to be in.

"Uh, guys…help! Please!" he shouted, attempting to clamber out of the Merb's grip. Aerrow and piper turned quickly and helped Finn free himself, but Aelric and Mortz were in a fit of hysterical laughter.

"Haha…you should have seen the look on his face, eh!" Mortz laughed aloud, tears starting to form in his eyes. Eventually, when Finn was free and Piper was busy keeping the other Merb at bay, Aelric and Mortz broke out of their laughing fit.

"Sorry about that. She's a feisty one." He said sarcastically, gaining a glare from the Merb. "Her name's…"

"…Sheela!" she cut in. "I'm Sheela. Pleased to meet you." She held out her hand at Finn, who cowered back, thinking she was going to try and jump him again. It was hard to see what she looked like because of the shadow that the condor was producing, but of what they could see of her, her skin was dark blue and ever so slightly shiny in the sunlight. Hastily, Finn grabbed her hand and shook it to prevent her from pulling him in. Cyclonis chuckled at the sight of Finn cowering, in which she was joined for a brief period by Piper.

"She's really harmless. Well, just as long you stay on her good side. She's our special weapons tester." said Aelric, walking over and giving Finn a pat on his back. Finn looked up again and took another step back.

"So, what am I? Was that her _good_ side?" he asked. Aelric laughed.

"Put it this way my friend. I think she likes you."

"What do you mean by that?!"

"I mean, I think she _'likes'_ you, understand?" Suddenly, Sheela jumped out and grabbed Aelric by his collar.

"Hey! I heard that you little dirt-bag!" she shouted, alerting the whole crowd of onlookers, in which some sarcastically wolf whistled at her holding Aelric. Sheela blushed uncontrollably and let him go. "…it's not like that." She muttered. There was one last whistle form the crowd and Sheela finally snapped, she turned to lunge at the one responsible and then stopped dead in her tracks.

In the midst of the onlookers was a woman dressed in Arabic-style, silk robes, with her face covered up by one and he hair tied back and covered at the top with yet another. Her skin, in which all anyone would really be able to see was her hands and top half of her face, was a chocolate-ish brown. Her eyes shone amber in the sunlight. There was an awkward moment of silence, and then laughter between the two figures broke out.

"So..." The dark skinned girl started. "…who are our guests? I saw the fight in the sky and thought I might check it out." Tarin turned and showed her the damage done to his armour. The dark skinned girl winced and looked over at Aerrow. "You did that?" Aerrow shook his head.

"No. Actually it was this guy" he said, pulling stork over to show him to her. The girl raised an eyebrow.

"Him? He looks as if he couldn't lift a sword, never mind attack someone with it." Stork pulled free from Aerrow and squared up to the girl.

"You just try saying that now!" he growled into her face. The girl squeaked in fright and took a step back. Aelric walked over and pulled her away from stork, which was furious that she called him weak.

"Watch it." He whispered. "You've seen what these guys are capable of, so I suggest you don't start a fight, got it?" The girl looked down in shame and nodded. Aelric looked up and at Stork. "Please excuse my team's behaviour. We don't see outsiders very often." Stork, who was now calming down with the help of Piper, looked away as in to say a silent 'sorry'.

"I was with the rest of the team back at the garage. Perhaps you'd like to meet the others now?" asked Aelric, turning to Aerrow. Aerrow looked behind him at the rest of his team.

"Perhaps…" he said, scratching his head in thought again. "but I'll leave that up to the rest of the crew." Aerrow walked from Finn to Junko, then Stork and Piper and finally Cyclonis, who was still trying to expunge the sight of Finn being attacked by a mystery girl. Arrow went back over to Aelric and shook hands.

"Well, I'll go with you to your garage. Piper and Stork are going around checking out the city first and Finn and Junko…well, I'd guess they'd be off for food, plus I think Finn's scared of your friend over there." Aerrow pointed over to where Sheela had been under the shadows of the Condor. She was now chasing a screaming Finn around the entire area. Aelric laughed and nodded to Aerrow. "And Cyclonis decided to go around and see the changes."

"Ok, I'll show the rest of your team mine when we're doing our training. You can join us if you want?" Aerrow smiled and nodded.

"I don't see it doing any damage so sure, we'll come around when you're doing your training exercises." Aelric grabbed Aerrow's hand and shook it.

"Very well!" he replied happily. "It's a done deal. We'll be training in about three hours. I'll be waiting." With that, Aelric led Arrow into the city, leaving the rest of the crew to go their separate ways and see the city in their own ways…


	5. Chapter 5: Memories, romance, Food and

**Chapter 5: ****Memories, Romance, Food and Betrayal**

**With Piper and Stork**

The duo headed into the heart of the city. Each building was laced with fantastic patterns and trinkets of shimmering gold. Each pathway was fitted with the smoothest of marbles and the people wore all kinds of expensive clothing, made of fine silks and leathers. The sand was fine, and in the wind it would blow up onto the pathways and into open doorways. It was truly an amazing sight.

Piper stared up at the top of one particular building. On it was a strange symbol sculpted from gold and silvers. The building's walls were hand carved from marble blocks and each window was fitted with beautiful stone balconies. The heat started to kick in. Slowly, Stork could start to feel the sweat drip from his chin. Piper however, was so busy looking up at the buildings that she hadn't noticed the sweat pouring from her forehead.

"Um…Piper, I think i…it would be a good idea to go inside." Stork stuttered, pulling a cloth from his pocket and wiping his face with it. Piper was still lost in her own amazement. Stork waited for a few minutes and was then forced to wipe his face again. "Piper, please! Before we sweat ourselves to death." There was another short period of silence, and then Stork resorted to using aggressiveness. He grabbed Piper by the arms and pulled her up off the ground and into the bar they should have been in about fifteen minutes ago. Piper, who had now snapped out of her trance, looked up at Stork and raised an eyebrow.

"What happened?" she asked, wiping the pouring sweat from her forehead. Stork chuckled to himself for a short moment.

"Never mind." He said quietly. The bar they had run into was full of all kinds of people, such as Sky-fishermen, some rather wealthy looking gentlemen and a lot of people wearing brightly coloured clothes. For a moment they pondered and just looked around, until they were interrupted suddenly by a waiter.

"Table for two, I presume?" he asked, holding a dish of steaming hot food with one hand and another plate holding several large, heavy looking glasses of alcoholic drinks. Piper and Stork glanced at each other and pulled out a small amount of gold coins each. The waited darted away for a moment and delivered his order, before coming back and checking their money. He counted it up and smiled politely. "Please, follow me to your seats." The waiter led the two to the south-most corner of the bar and pulled out a seat for Piper.

"Wow. The service here is great." She stated, making the waiter give another smile before leaving them to choose an order. She lifted a menu and read out the first few sentences.

"_Welcome to the Red Sands Bar, the most inexpensive family-run bar in Terra Mystica. You pay for the seats and we'll do the rest for you! We'll buy the food, cook the food and serve the food for you free of __charge; however, all drinks are family brews and must be paid for correctly."_

Stork and Piper looked at each other and grinned.

"It's a free all-you-can-eat buffet?" Stork said, scanning the menu's rather nice-sounding orders.

"Yup, and you get unique drink. This bar is great. I want to come here more often." Piper replied, making Stork raise his eyebrow.

"You drink?"

"Yeah. Well…only a little."

"I've never seen you drink anything besides fruit juice."

"Who said anyone had to see me drink alcohol?" Piper winked playfully at Stork. His eyes popped up to Piper, who was starting to laugh.

"Oh. So it was _you_ who finished off my Dusk Rum!" he said slyly. "Well, I was lucky that there happened to be a bottle of Autumn Wine in the fridge too." Piper glared at Stork.

"That was you? I thought Finn and Junko had a drinking competition again." She said to a grinning Stork. For a moment, she gave Stork a serious look, and then a smile started to spread onto her face. Then she began chuckling and then laughing, which then passed over to Stork who ended up joining her in a fit of laughter. After the duo managed to suppress their laughter, the waiter, who had been standing for a few minutes beforehand, hoping they would stop laughing so hard.

"Ok, so have you two agreed on an order?" he asked, pulling out a small notepad and a pen. Piper took another look at the menu.

"I'll have…the Sky-farm course, thank you." She replied. The Waiter scribbled down her order and waited for Stork, who was busy tying his cloth over his forehead like a bandanna.

"I think I'll take…um…stuffed Skycarp?" he said suddenly, without really ordering anything. Unfortunately, the waiter didn't know this, and took his 'order' along with his menu before Stork could say otherwise. He flung himself over the back of his seat and let his head fall into the shade. The back of his head felt like it had spent hours in a microwave oven, and the sweat from the sides of his head was making his hair wet. Piper however, was directly in the way of the sun, and it wasn't long until she was forced to try and find shade behind a spare menu that was lying on the table next to them.

After a few minutes of trying to cool off, the orders arrived. Piper's dish was made up of various vegetables and dressings, topped with strange spices. Stork's dish however was two rather large pieces of skycarp filled with a strangely coloured stuffing-like cream, covered with a few vegetables and a side of fire mustard, which he subsequently tried not to eat.

To Stork's surprise, the meal wasn't half bad, and the mustard, which he had avoided hence the name, wasn't as spicy as he had thought it would be. Piper on the other hand, had possible the most spicy food on the menu, and ended up going through several glasses of water. For the majority of the meal, the two were silent, but every now and then Piper would try and have a laugh with Stork by acting scared and pointing behind him, and when he turned, stealing some of his stuffed skycarp. Eventually, when Stork had eaten the last of his rather large meal, and when Piper had managed to cool off her mouth to the point that it _only_ felt like it was on fire, the meal ended.

"Is that all?" asked the waiter, who had been lucky enough to pass their table just as they finished. With a nod from both Piper and Stork, the waiter took their plates. As soon as the waiter had taken their plates, the two got up and darted into the shade, due to them being in the direct path of a window that was in the direct path of the sun. Sweating, Piper rolled up her sleeves and sighed deeply. Stork had now used a second cloth and wrapped it around his head, because the sweat had started seeping through the first cloth. Then the heat made him snap. Stork walked over to the counter and ordered six glasses of water, in which he poured three over his head and passed the other three to Piper, who, submitting to the heat, did the same. With a sigh of relief, they both walked outside, to be greeted by the shadows of the surrounding buildings.

Everything was quieting down now. There were far fewer people walking about the shopping stalls. They could see over the top of some of the lower buildings that dusk was creeping in, as the sky was turning a deep red. The two walked back to the Condor and looked up at the view. The lowest visible clouds were a fiery red, and as the cloud-lines started to rise, the colour changed from deep red to a bright orange and eventually a faint yellow, just licking the top of the sky, which was turning dark. Stork turned to Piper, who was sitting on the deck of the Condor with a pad of paper out, sketching the landscape.

Stork could feel the temperature of the air fall a little. Perhaps this could be the chance to say what he wanted to say the night before, when he was made to watch Cyclonis, and due to her uneasy sleeping, didn't get to say. For a moment, he drummed his fingers, getting faster and faster the more nervous he got about saying what he wanted to say. It would be tricky. As far as he knew, Piper thought of him as a great friend, but not as her partner. Facing up to his fears, Stork mustered his courage. Slowly, Stork moved a little closer to Piper, hoping that she wouldn't notice him.

"Um…Piper?" Stork asked. "…About last night…" Piper turned and smiled.

"Oh yeah, you said there was something important. What was it?" she replied. Stork gulped fearfully, and then got his courage back up again.

"Well, um…over the past week, i…I've noticed that you've been rather kind and careful not to hurt my feelings." He continued, starting to drum him fingers again. Piper put her paper down and listened carefully. "I mean, you're the only person on the ship that's been kind enough to _actually_ do something a…and try to help. You're the only one I've been able to count on for help and…um…" Stork Gulped again and his fingers were drumming so hard that it started to hurt. He was particularly nervous when he saw Piper's face turn bright red. "Wh…what I'm trying to say i…is…I've grown clos…"

"…Closer to me? Am I right?" she cut in, bearing a flattered smile, blushing beyond any hope of hiding it. Stork was about to try and continue talking, but he was cut off again, but this time, it was by a kiss. Piper Put her hands on Stork's neck and pulled him close, kissing him deeply. Stork was, at least for the first few moments, tense, and then everything went slack. He had imagined that a kiss with Piper would have felt good, but he'd never imagined that it'd feel _this_ good. When he managed to regain his muscle control, he wrapped his arms around Piper's neck and pulled her in closer, further deepening the kiss. Piper let her tongue slip fro her mouth and into Stork's and Stork replied with similar action…

**Meanwhile, with Finn and Junko…**

"Finn! Stop running! I think she's gone now!" Junko had been chasing his friend all over the city trying to calm him down. Since everyone parted ways, Finn had been jumped another three times by Sheela, who firstly dragged him into a dark alleyway, then jumped on him from the rooftops and lastly tied him against a light post and subjected him to a brief humiliation. There was a clatter of broken plates as Finn finally stopped by slamming into a shopping stall. Junko caught up, wheezing heavily.

"Ow…" mumbled Finn, who, when he looked behind him, could swear that he saw the fast-moving figure of a particular female Merb. Again, Finn panicked and scrambled about on the ground before being hauled onto Junko's shoulder.

"I think you lost her Finn. You almost lost _me_ for a second." Junko stated, carrying Finn down the street on his shoulder. Unluckily for Finn however, he got a clear shot of Sheela casually walking through the crowd right towards him. With a frenzied attack, Finn slipped free from Junko's grasp and darted down the alleyway, which was followed by a rather girly scream. Junko ran into the alleyway behind Finn and, surely enough, there was Finn, pinned to the ground by Sheela. Junko slapped his head in disbelief.

"I never lose my prey!" Sheela said smugly, grinning and moving her face towards Finn's playfully. "Aww, come on! You have to admit, it's been fun, right?" Finn shook his head vigorously.

"For you maybe, but you're scaring the crap out of me!" Finn shouted, trying to wriggle his way out of Sheela's arms. Sheela frowned and let him go.

"Sorry…" she said. "I just wanted to play around with you. I didn't think I was _that_ scary." Finn got up and there was a horrible gut feeling that he'd made her feel bad. Just as he was away to apologise, he stepped forwards and tripped on an old pipe, sending him flying forwards and on top of Sheela.

"Hmm..." she continued. "My, my Finn. I didn't think you cared so much." Finn snapped out of his dizziness and looked at the position he happened to fall on her in. His face lit up like a 600 watt bulb and he threw himself back up and off of her.

"Shut up! I didn't mean that!" he growled. Sheela looked at him and then wrapped her arms around his neck seductively.

"Yeah, that might have been a mistake, but you know you want to…" she started cheekily, before Finn threw her off of him again.

"Gah! Stop it already! This is really wrong, and you're doing it in public too." said a still clearly Finn, now standing back in the alleyway he had run down a few minutes ago.

"Yeah, but it's getting darker." She said slyly.

"She's got a point Finn…" added Junko, looking up at the reddening sky. "Give it some time and nobody will be around to give you cover. You'll be an easy target." Finn glared at Junko with a fiery hate.

"You just _had_ to give her some ideas, didn't you!" he groaned. Junko slapped his head again, and then rubbed it when he noticed it was getting sore.

"Sorry Finn. I was just saying."

"Man, I better not have to run again. My legs are killing me!"

"Ok, ok. I'll give you a break. Just be prepared for tomorrow" Sheela grinned evilly and cracked her knuckles. Finn shivered and turned away.

"Like you said, it's getting late. Aerrow said there was something going on and he'd meet us back at the Condor." stated Finn, who soon realised that he was on the same road he ran down, just past the Condor. Walking back, the three stopped at a few stalls, buying a set of strange, silver figures, which Finn thought might make his quarters look a little 'cooler' (that's if they ever were). Junko bought, of course, a huge plate of food, which he expectedly ate in about ten seconds. Sheela on the other hand, didn't buy anything. She lived around that area, and whatever was up for sale, she already had.

As the sunset came into view, so did the Condor. Finn peered up and saw two figures at the deck of the ship. Junko couldn't see anything, because whatever was left of the sunlight was shining directly into his eyes. Slowly, Finn started to recognise the two silhouetted figures; spiked up hair, slender physique, obviously Piper, and the other one, spiky hair also but spiked backwards, long fringe…" Finn suddenly stopped and grinned mischievously.

"Stork and Piper, sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-…" just as Finn was about to finish singing, a bolt of blue energy darted inches from his head and shattered a barrel behind him. He shut his mouth automatically and became so tense again, that Junko had to, once again, pick him up and carry him over to the Condor…

**The same time, with Cyclonis…**

Cyclonis stood upon the city walls watching the sun god down behind the clouds and beyond. It had been six years since she had last been in Terra Mystica. It had bee six years since she last saw all of her friends, most of which she doubted would still be there. It made her sad to think that after all that time on the Cyclonian throne, she'd never took the time to think of he friends. There had been so many changes too. Last time she visited, everything seemed normal. There were more people there too, but when the war escalated, they must have moved away to protect themselves.

There was a sad silence. The wind slowly and softly brushed through Cyclonis' hair, pushing the sand along below her feet. It wouldn't stay warm for long. She remembered the weeks on end that she would spend just looking into the distance, into the sunset with her friends, talking and having a laugh. She sighed deeply as she tried to imagine them slowly but surely forgetting about her, just as she had with them. The thought would haunt her memories of here for a long time.

However, there were parts of her past that made he feel happy too. Aulcan's shop was still running well, and to her surprise, Aulcan remembered her. Aulcan had an extraordinary memory for faces, especially the eyes. He would say "the eyes are the key to one's soul. All souls are unique, and if you try hard enough, you can remember even the faintest of souls." Cyclonis chuckled and smiled to herself again. Above of all that, her friends had left trinkets for those that they had known before they had left. Cyclonis rummaged in her pocket and pulled a small picture of herself and Kaila, her best friend. At least one of the people she knew had not forgotten about her in return. On the corner of the picture was Kaila's signature.

Cyclonis held herself from crying and looked back up at the sunset again. The sun was almost completely gone. The moon was creeping into view and the sky was an empty black, all except the stars shining spectacularly, forming all different kinds of patterns and shapes. Thinking of her friends made Cyclonis think of Kaysha. She didn't know whether she was safe or if she had been found out. Cyclonis shivered in the cold and leaned against the wall.

"I hope she got out safely." She whispered to herself, rubbing her arms and trying to warm herself up. Eventually, she couldn't take the cold any more and started to head back to the Condor. Aerrow had something planned, and they were to meet up at the condor in about an hour. She clambered down the first flight of stone steps, and then the second, and passed by all the empty shopping stalls and locked up houses. Every now and then, an alleyway would be lit up with moonlight, simply showing nothing but a slim, new passage to her destination.

Ten minutes later, the moonlight was the only light left. Cyclonis was darting from one street to the next, running as fast as she could to the town square and the Condor. Finally, after a lot of running, the ship was in sight. Cyclonis gave out a sigh of relief and jogged over.

"You guys are early!" she shouted up, starting to climb her way onto the deck. Aerrow and Aelric, who had been waiting not only for her, but for Tarin too, took her arms and pulled her up.

"Yeah. Tarin hasn't shown up yet. We can't even start training without him." Aelric replied. Suddenly, three new people appeared and screamed 'Surprise!" sending everyone, especially Cyclonis, jumping up and onto their feet. Everyone drew their weapons and lit up the deck and surely enough, there were three people…laughing so hard that they were almost reduced to tears. One was huge, wearing thick, steel gauntlets, and the other two were holding several large, difficult-looking books. For a moment everything thin was silent, and the Aerrow and Aelric began to laugh too.

"That was a pretty good one." Aelric laughed, withdrawing his blade and sheathing it back on his side. He walked over to Cyclonis and took her by the arm.

"You mind introducing these guys to the rest of the crew?" asked Aerrow, trying to suppress his laughter.

"Oh, yeah! Sorry. I forgot to say, these guys were getting their stuff ready for training." Aelric replied. He pulled over the two book-wielding people and sat them down on the deck next to himself, then hauled over the unsuspecting muscle-man, who tripped and caused the whole ship to shake when he fell.

"I'd like to introduce you to Zharr, Jarret and Irisha, the team's strongman, helmsman and sharpshooter." Junko waved over to all three, while Finn tried to act smart in front of Irisha, which ultimately failed and ended up with him almost falling from the deck of the Condor. Irisha laughed aloud, while the man beside her, Jarret, was indulging himself in a huge book called 'Knowledge is thy Sword."

Aelric gave another look out for Tarin, but there was still no sign of him anywhere.

"Damn it! This is the sixth time he's not showed up! What the hell has he been doing?" Junko shrugged his shoulders.

"Maybe he decided to practice on his own. You saw what he did to the condor, and he didn't need any help for that." Aelric agreed with a nod and frowned.

"I know, but…we're supposed to be a team. He knows that better than anyone…"

**With Tarin…**

"_I knew it!"_ he thought to himself, the dark, industrialised mountains of Cyclonia coming into view. _"I know there was something about those kids! Damn Storm Hawks trying to show me up! I'll show Aerrow who the best Sky knight in the word is!"_ His eyes were filled with hatred.

Tarin's hate for Aerrow and the rest of the Storm hawks began when they stole the show at Terra Saharr, ridiculing him by having all the other pilots create their own cruiser and fighting off the Cyclonian attack. And then there was the freeing of the Rebel Ducks, which they continue to get credit for. It drove Tarin mad, how a bunch of rookie Sky Knights managed to gain all the fame and glory, while a man of his talent was put on the sidelines. At the time being, he hated the Storm Hawks so much, that he joined a group of Cyclonian mercenaries behind his 'team's backs. But when Cyclonis was declared deceased, the mercenaries broke up, believing that the Storm Hawks had already won…but he wasn't finished yet…

Requesting to see the Dark Ace, since there was no other heir to the Cyclonian throne but him, he offered his services as a double agent. He could give valuable information to the whereabouts of the Storm Hawks, but still cover his tracks by telling his 'team-mates' that the sortie was only a training exercise. Fortunately for him, The Ace approved of his offer, and he did as he was told. But now…now he knew the most valuable information there could be to know. The Storm Hawks were marooned on his Terra, and along with them, the escapee, Cyclonis.

Tarin pulled the lever on his left and the four wings on his skimmer flipped back inside and out came the wheels, which screeched violently on the landing bay floor. Lucky enough, the Ace was just about to leave for a raid when Tarin dropped in. Slightly shocked to see his agent back so early, he stopped his cruiser's take-off procedure and walked out onto the deck.

"Tarin! What is the meaning of your early arrival?! I Do hope that you will not disappoint me like you have in the past." He shouted down, his voice echoing in the large, metal hangar. Tarin grinned and bowed low.

"My lord, I have some very interesting news to report. It would seem the Storm Hawks have made a temporary stop for repairs in my home Terra." He replied, bowing ever so slightly lower. The Dark Ace's eyebrows rose in astonishment. "…It would also seem that your problem with the missing ex-ruler, Cyclonis, is also with them as their captive. My Lord, if you attack now, they will be powerless, and you will not only gain the pleasure of ridding the world of the Storm Hawks, but you will gain the most luxurious of Terras for your own."

The Ace gave an evil smile. Finally, he would achieve what his previous master, one who had been born into a line of great villains, was going to give up. This would be a glorious day for his nation. There would ve no more Storm Hawks, and there would be no more threat. Without the Storm Hawks' aid, each terra would fall into Cyclonian grasp and, eventually, the whole of Atmos…


	6. Chapter 6: The Rise and Fall

**Chapter 6: The Rise and fall**

The newly dawning sun began to rise above the sky, slowly but surely, filling the windows of the Condor with a bright light. Everyone had been up early because of the heat. Cyclonis and Piper were working on crystals in the dark-room, Finn and Junko were busy with repairs, Aerrow and Radar were running maintenance checks on the skimmers and Stork was…daydreaming about Piper.

"Dude, I can't take this any more." Said Finn, slumping onto the deck and looking up at the sky. "This heat's too much." Junko walked in behind him and wiped the sweat from his head.

"Lucky for us I found somewhere we could cool off yesterday while I was chasing you around." He replied. Finn perked up and turned to Junko.

"Man, you're awesome! Wanna ditch work and head there now?" he asked, dropping the spare parts he was carrying. Junko thought for a moment, and then wiped the sweat from his head again.

"Yeah, I think that'd be a good idea." He replied, also dropping the parts he was carrying, before jumping off the deck and onto the engine, leading Finn onwards to relaxation. Piper watched as the two darted away into the city, but was too powerless to stop them. The heat had gotten to everyone. The damage to the Condor was a little more than they first anticipated. All of the air conditioning units were malfunctioning and one of the radiators wouldn't shut off. The armour on the outside of the ship was dented and ripped to shreds and the right engine was leaking. It would take a long time, especially in this heat to fix up the Condor.

However, Stork still didn't seem to notice that he was in the direct path of the sun. He was too busy dreaming about the night beforehand, just him and Piper, alone, sharing that one kiss. A dreamy smile crept along his face, until he was woken up when his fringe flapped down onto his face, drenched in sweat. He shook his head and walked out of the room to look for shade, closely followed by Radar, who had darted into the room after spending too much time outside. Aerrow then walked in. Over his head, he held a large wooden plank. He would have taken metal, since the wood had holes in it, but the metal would heat up and make things a whole world worse.

Cyclonis and Piper locked themselves within the dark-room, and it was, thankfully, just that; a dark room. Both of them were wearing the shortest clothing they could find; on Cyclonis, a pair of yellow shorts and a blue tank-top, and nothing but shorts on Piper, who had resorted to wearing nothing but her bra on her top half. They sighed in relief and slumped onto the chairs.

"It's a lot hotter than I remember it ever being." sighed Cyclonis, taking a cloth from the table next to her and wrapping it around her head. "Any ideas for our next trip outside?" Piper wiped the sweat from her neck and chuckled.

"Not a clue, sorry." She laughed. It would look like everyone would well and truly be stuck inside the ship living on shade and cold water until the late afternoon. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Regretfully, Piper got up and opened the door to reveal Aelric, holding sets of silky, white robes and other lightly coloured garments.

"Hi there, I got…WOW!" he shouted, having just been confronted by a half naked, sweating pair of women. Piper glared and him and snatched one of the robes, covering her top half.

"If you'd be so kind, please stop gawking at our bodies!" Piper ordered, turning Aelric around herself and nearly closing the door. "What are these?" Aelric turned again, and, disappointed with the view, answered their question.

"The colours will help keep you cool in the sun. The team decided we'd do some training without Tarin around anyway."

"Oh, right. Um…just a minute please." Piper replied, closing the door and taking a yellow robe from Aelric's hands. There was the faint sound of rummaging in the room, and after a short wait, out came both Cyclonis and Piper, dressed in bright robes. Cyclonis looked at the white robe she was wearing and smiled.

"These aren't bad. Where did you get these?" she asked, feeling on of the silky sleeves.

"Huh? I got the robes just down the street from here. I'm surprised you lot didn't see the shopping stall there yesterday." Piper slapped her forehead in disbelief.

"You didn't have to go through the trouble of buying us clothes." Aelric raised his eyebrow.

"If I'm not mistaken, you and your friends are currently losing the will to live." Piper was about to come up with another reason for not getting them helpful clothing when she stopped. She couldn't think of any reasons why he _wouldn't_ want to help. "Now…where are Finn and that big guy?"

"They ran away into the city saying that they were going to cool off."

"What? In the fountains?"

"Not a clue…wait, why would someone jump in a fountain. Actually, that sounds about right for Finn. Maybe you should go check it out." Aelric left the clothes at the door and darted back out of the ship and into the city to search for Finn and Junko. Stork walked up the hallway and stared in amazement at the two girls dressed in robes.

"Um…did I miss something?" he asked, picking up a white pair of jeans, and then a white shirt. "This looks like it came from Finn's wardrobe." Piper and Cyclonis giggled as they tried to imaging Finn wearing smart clothes and trying to act cool.

"I take it the rest of those clothes are for you guys." Cyclonis said, breaking her thought. Stork looked at the clothes he was holding and tried to imagine himself wearing smart clothing. The thought brought a smile to his face. As the two girls turned and headed down the corridor, Stork put down the shirt and snuck across and into Finn's room…

Meanwhile, Aerrow was having trouble with the skimmer maintenance. He couldn't find the right parts because Finn and Junko had run off without looking for them. Holding the plank of wood over his head was not easy task either. It was full of holes, which the sunlight kept getting through and into his eyes.

Aerrow's skimmer was in need of a new exhaust, and Piper's scooter needed new lights and a replacement rotor-blade, but as it was previously stated, he had neither. Another beam of sunlight darted into one of the holes in his wood, shining right into his eye.

"Damn it!" he shouted, turning his head and walking backwards out of the door. When he finally was free of sunlight, but was soon bothered by the pile of clothes conveniently placed just next to the door. Aerrow turned and tripped, falling flat on his face. When he looked up, he was confronted by the pile of white and orange clothes. Picking himself up from the ground, he took one of the shirts and examined it.

'_Finn's new clothes?'_ he thought to himself, but upon looking down again and seeing long white robes, he took it back. Just then, the entrance door opened. In walked Finn and Junko, drenched head to toe in water, bearing massive smiles on their faces.

"That was good. Nice and cool." sighed Finn, receiving a nod from Junko in agreement. Behind them came Aelric, also drenched, but he was certainly not happy.

"I can't believe you jumped into the city's prized fountain! I mean of all the ways to cool off, that was the worst! Besides, there's a river not for from there. Why didn't you head there in stead?!" he ranted, ringing out one of his sleeves. "I need a towel to dry off." Piper and Cyclonis entered the hallway and saw Aelric, topless, ringing out his shirt. Cyclonis raised her eyebrow and grinned, while Piper gave a sarcastic wolf whistle. Aelric blushed and shot them an angry glare. "Shut up!"

"Aww, come on," started Cyclonis. "…can't you take a joke?" Aelric kept up his glare and walked into the bathroom, grabbed a towel and started to dry his hair. Suddenly, Finn's room's door shot open, hitting Aelric in the back and sending him into the bathroom with a thud. Out walked Stork dressed in a white top hat, suit top, suit trousers and polished, black shoes. Finn suddenly burst into hysterical laughter.

"Dude, you look like a Pimp." He gasped in mid laugh. Piper and Cyclonis blushed furiously and smacked Finn over the back of the head. Aerrow and Aelric, who had managed to stumble back out of the bathroom, stared with a raised eyebrow.

"Stork? You ok?" Aerrow asked, tilting his head and trying to look at Stork's face which was hidden by the shadows of his hat. Stork flicked up the top-hat and grinned.

"Ok? I'm great." He said, turning and sending Piper a wink. Piper blushed, giggled and winked back. The others cocked their eyebrows, save Finn, who ended up trying to sing his 'Piper and Stork' song again through his laughter. Junko turned back to the hysterical Finn and poked his shoulder.

"Hey, isn't that your suit?" he asked. Finn suddenly went silent. He had been too busy laughing to notice that Stork had burst out of _his_ room. Finn turned with a frown.

"Hey!" he shouted, pointing at Stork. "That's _my_ suit!" Stork ran backwards and grabbed Piper, pulling her out of the Condor with him and darted off into the city, followed by an angry Finn. Aelric, who was most confused of the entire group, scratched his head in thought.

"What the hell was that?" he asked, turning to Aerrow, who shrugged and walked outside. "I need that lot back here if we want to practice."

"Well," Aerrow replied. "We better start looking for them." And with that, the remains of the group split up to find their missing counterparts…

**With Stork and Piper…**

Stork had eventually run out of steam. He let go of Piper and grasped his chest hard as he tried to catch his breath. Piper Laughed and walked over, placing a comforting hand of Stork's back.

"What is it?" she laughed. Stork looked back up, still smiling yet breathing deeply and signalled 'just a second' with his finger. For a few moments, Stork's breathing finally slowed back to normal, and then he turned and grabbed Piper again. However, instead of running, he pulled her close and kissed her with a deep passion. Piper felt his tongue reach the top of her mouth and returned the favour, letting her tongue slip into Stork's mouth. She felt her heart race inside her chest as the kiss became more and more passionate, until they broke free of each other and smiled. "Wow…"gasped Piper.

"I just thought I'd dress for the occasion." replied Stork, holding Piper's waist firmly. Quickly, the duo walked over to the closest alleyway. Piper suddenly pushed Stork against the wall and leant in. Slowly, she kissed the side of Storks face and then moved down to his neck. He gave a short moan as Piper kissed between his neck and his shoulder, moving along gently. Stork caressed her sides and pulled her close again. Stork's heart beat so hard that Piper could feel it, and as they kissed again, the rate of beating rose even higher.

Stork began to move his left hand down past Piper's thigh, caressing her leg and moved his right hand up to Piper's chest, so he was only just caressing the side of her breasts. She giggled playfully and nuzzled the side of his face. Stork then moved down and kissed Piper's neck. She grasped Stork's shoulders and pulled herself up close to him and groaned as Stork continued to caress her body and kiss her neck.

"I've never seen this side of you before." She giggled. Stork Grinned and looked into her eyes.

"Neither have I." he replied, before kissing her again. Piper suddenly perked upwards.

"Did you hear that?" she asked, scanning the area around them. Before Piper and Stork could separate themselves, Finn and Aelric jumped out from the sides of the alleyway. Aelric wolf whistled and winked at the two lovers, while Finn, once again, sang "Stork and Piper, sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G, doing things they shouldn't be." Piper shot a smug grin at Finn and shrugged her shoulders, grasping Stork's collar and kissing him deeply. Finn's jaw dropped.

"Dude! You didn't even give chase! How lame is that?!" he shouted. Stork broke free of piper's kiss and turned with yet another smug grin.

"We're too busy. Go pester someone who has the time." Finn was awestruck. He barely expected Piper to ignore him, but Stork?! Aelric laughed and pointed as Finn turned away with a red face. Then there was another noise. Finn opened his eyes just in time to see the blue skinned female Merb pounce on top of him.

"Hmm? What have we got here then?" she asked playfully, putting her finger on Finn's lips. "A boy with no partner I see. Well, I'll be glad to help." Sheela's voice was slow, light and seductive. Finn could feel his face turn into a light-bulb as the Merb closed in and almost had her lips upon his. Finn whimpered and looked to Stork and Piper, who were joining Aelric in a fit of maniacal laughter. Sheela moved her hand down and undid Finn's belt, grinning cheekily. The laughing crowd then started to chant "Kiss him!" which inevitably, Sheela complied to. Her lips pressed against Finn's softly. Finn whimpered again, and when Sheela's grasp loosened, he broke away and scrambled to safety. Sheela burst into laughing.

"This is classic! The look on your face is too much!" she laughed, holding her stomach and hitting the ground. Finn glared and jogged away, checking behind himself again to make sure Sheela wasn't following. Aelric wiped the tears from his eyes and swallowed down the last of his laughter.

"Ok, ok, enough playing around. Everyone's meeting up at the Condor to go to the garage. You two finished or you ready to come down?" he asked. Piper and Stork looked at each other and held hands.

"We'll come down now thanks." Piper replied. Stork nodded in agreement. Aelric led them back through the city, via winding streets and large, open alleyways. After a fair time of wandering, and at one point, getting lost, the group made it back to the Condor. Everyone was waiting. Finn was cowering behind Junko to try and make sure Sheela wouldn't see him, and Zharr was polishing his gauntlets (which he did at least four times a day). Aerrow peered through the sunlight and made out the four figures.

"Where have you guys been? We've been waiting for ages." He asked, covering his eyes with his hand.

"That doesn't matter now!" he shouted back. "Everyone's here so get yourselves dressed in the clothes I brought you and I'll take you to the Garage, Ok?" Aerrow nodded and waved in agreement.

"Right, does anyone know where the clothes he brought us are…?"

**Twenty minutes later…**

Cyclonis had been sitting outside in her white robes for at least an hour now. Piper had gone inside to check on everyone else and Aelric had been getting some shade, since he'd been out almost all day.

"So, Cyclonis," Aelric started. "You want to go out? After training I mean, just to get something to eat?" Cyclonis leaned over the edge of the deck at the boy on the ground. She smiled kindly and chuckled.

"Sure. I don't see the trouble in it." She replied. Aelric smiled and shielded his face from the remaining sunlight under the Condor. The entrance doors opened shortly after and the Storm Hawks walked back outside. Finn came out wearing something that resembled a thin, white trench coat with orange stripes. Junko came out wearing a large, belted, orange robe that only just made t to his ankles. Aerrow and Radar came out wearing a white shirt and white jeans and Stork came out with…the suit still on. Finn looked at him enviously.

"I was supposed to get the cool clothes!" he said, tugging on his white coat. "This thing's too long for me anyway." Aelric looked to make sure everyone was present and grinned gleefully.

"Right…" he began. "Everyone's here. I'll show you the way to the Garage." It took only a surprisingly short time to get to the garage. Finn still spent most of the way trying to hide from Sheela, who kept taunting him with blown kisses and winks. Piper and Stork had gone the whole way with their arms tied and Cyclonis had, unfortunately, been at the back of the line throughout the entire trip.

"Well…" Aelric started again. "We're here. _This_, my friends, is the 'Garage'." In front of the team, lay a huge, fortress-like building bearing a long flag down the middle of the entrance brandishing the Terra Mystica emblem. On its top, was a large, gold sun statue and upon the walls were several guards, armed to the teeth with strange weapons. Cyclonis and all the team, but Aelric and Aerrow, who had seen the garage beforehand, were mesmerised. Aelric walked forwards and opened the main door.

Inside the 'Garage' was extraordinarily huge. The roof went three-hundred feet into the air and there were several staircases leading up to the higher levels. Even inside the 'garage', there was a large amount of guards, for more than anyone had seen patrolling the streets.

"Wow!" Cyclonis gasped. She looked up at the ceiling and just about lost her balance. Aelric led the team to another double-door and pushed them open. Inside this room was a large, factory-like building. On the left, they could see machines powered by fuel crystals, and to their right, a massive docking bay full of Skimmers and three insanely huge vessels. Directly ahead of them was another docking bay. It was blocked off for 'Special Personnel' only. Aelric opened the door to the docking bay and allowed the Storm Hawks to walk inside.

In the bay were five Skimmers, one Hover-scooter and one…something cool, all covered in white, gold and silver armour. On the front of each vehicle was the Terra Mystica emblem, just like the one on the front of the building, only they were made gold. From underneath the strange, floating skimmer-like vehicle, popped Jarret. Aelric walked to the vehicle and patted it gently.

"My friends, I would like to introduce you to the new addition to the team; the 'Experimental Skimmer mark 5.07.' Please notice the large rotor blade on the bottom and the crystal-enhanced ventilation system." Aerrow was almost drooling. "The rotor blade on the bottom and the powerful pure crystal-energy turbines make this baby the fastest Skimmer to have _EVER_ flown in the sky. Jarret here has been adding the finishing touches to her and we'll be flying it in no-time." Irisha, Mortz and the mysterious robed girl from the crowd walked into the dock.

"So, you decided to join us, eh?" Mortz asked, putting on the last of his riding armour. Finn looked over to the trio.

"Hey, nice threads!" he said, his voice echoing over the docking bay's walls. Mortz bowed and put his glove on. The mysterious girl walked over to Stork, who remembered her and gave her a rather angry scowl.

"Sorry…" she said. Stork blinked. "Sorry for being so rude, on your first day here. My name's Shyall" Stork smiled and patted her on the shoulder.

"You've nothing to be sorry about. Like I've been told, my riding suit doesn't help my physique much." He turned to Piper, who smiled and giggled. Aelric pointed over to the large vessels on the other docking bay.

"These are still in production. We decided we would go public, share our knowledge and wealth with those we can trust." He said loudly over the violent creaking which was followed by one of the vessels taking flight. Aelric's face brandished a smile for a moment. "Ah, it's not going to be long now. Soon, we'll be taking and bringing people to and from Terra Mystica." The large vessel creaked again and slowly landed. Aerrow turned and walked over to Aelric.

"So, when is this training going to start? I can't wait to see that experimental…thing fly into action." Aelric grinned and laughed.

"I'm sorry, but for now, you'll be watching from the sidelines. I can't risk having you or anyone else in your team getting hurt." He replied. With that, Aerrow nodded and stood back. Aelric walked over to a small desk and took off the armour lying on it; two silver shoulder-pads with the gold emblem on each, a large silver plate of metal for his chest and another for his stomach. He then moved over and got onto his Skimmer-bike. It was the Air-skimmer VI model, with modified amour and wheels, two large engines on both sides and four blade-tipped wings.

Jarret walked back and hopped onto the experimental skimmer, Mortz hauled himself onto his Hover-scooter with an advanced propeller ejection system. Zharr jumped onto his most prized possession, his type IV skimmer with heavy armour, re-enforced glass shielding and re-enforced steel-blade-tipped wings. The other Pilots all had standard type IV Skimmers with advanced ventilation systems and heavy armour. Each pilot revved his or her engine and suddenly, Aelric floored it, sending his Skimmer flying over the edge of the landing bay and out into the open sky. He flicked a switch on his dashboard and out flipped the wings, sending him soaring into the clouds. He was then followed by Zharr, then Mortz, Shyall, Sheela, Irisha and finally, Jarret, who had to wait for the rotors on his skimmer to lift him off the ground. Jarret sped forwards at such a speed that he passed Irisha before she had time to open her wings. The Storm Hawks gave a loud cheer and ran to the edge of the docking bay.

"WOW! Look at that thing go!" Finn shouted, pointing up at the Experimental Skimmer darting through the clouds at high speed…

**With Aelric and company…**

Aelric watched as the Experimental Skimmer flew right past him. Behind it was a huge gust of wind, which forced Aelric's skimmer over to the side. He laughed and tried to catch up. He picked up the radio from the left of his dashboard and held down the 'send' button.

"Hey! Watch the paintwork!" laughed Aelric through the speaker. Then his radio made a static sound and then cleared up.

"_What do you mean? I know what I'm doing, thank you very much." _laughed Jarret from the other side of the radio. Then there was another transmission.

"_Yeah! I've been dying to take this baby for a spin again!"_ said Zharr, cuddling his Skimmer as if it were his child. Mortz sped up to him and laughed aloud.

"_Hey, get a room, eh!"_ he shouted sarcastically. Zharr stopped hugging his ride and stuck his tongue out at Mortz. There was another transmission coming from Irisha's end.

"_Hey, Sheela! Race you to the training grounds?"_ she asked, revving her engine loud. Sheela replied with a rev from her engine.

"_Bring it!" _she shouted, darting past Irisha and heading directly forwards towards the training grounds beyond the cloud circle. Suddenly, everything on Sheela's end went totally silent. Aelric tapped his radio, and then darted forwards through the cloud circle. He gaped at the view…

There were eight large Cyclonian Battle Cruisers heading directly towards them; directly for Terra Mystica. Aelric stood in shock as the rest of the team entered the training grounds and stopped. For a moment, there was an eerie silence, but then there was a small flash in the distance. Aelric got out a scope and looked across at the Cruisers. Nothing. He was about to put away his scope when another flash caught his eye…a flash from the Main Cruiser's primary cannons. Two large shells flew straight past Aelric's skimmer, barley missing the rest of the team behind him.

"What the fuck?! Is everyone back there ok?" he shouted through the radio. Each member of the team reported a negative hit and began to back up. There was another flash and two more shells flew past the team again. This time, Aelric ordered the retreat and the team turned their bikes around and flew back out of the training grounds.

Aerrow was surprised to see Aelric back so early, but when he landed, his skin was as pale as the paint on his bike.

"Hey!" Aerrow shouted over. "I've got a bad feeling about this. What's going on?" Aelric turned and grabbed Aerrow by the arm.

"Were you followed here?!" he asked. Aerrow gave a terrified raise of his eyebrow. "Were you followed here or not!?" Aerrow hit Aelric's arm down and freed himself.

"No! I wasn't followed here! What is going on?" he replied angrily. Aelric ran and grabbed Cyclonis.

"It seems the Ace knows where to look to finish his ex-master off, along with the rest of us." He answered, pulling Cyclonis over to his skimmer. "I'm getting you out of here!" There was a massive bang and sirens went off. The attack had begun. Aelric let Cyclonis go and looked out of the window towards the City's front gates and beyond. In the distance, he could see the cruisers raining shells on the city's screaming inhabitants and its valiant soldiers making their way to the walls. He could also see smaller Cyclonian airships deploying rank after rank of foot soldiers.

Behind the team, soldiers were running for their skimmers on the other docking bay. The Cruisers were getting close, and once they reached the city, they would deploy hundreds of Talon soldiers, thirsting for a good fight. Through the windows, Aelric could see the men line up at the walls and stand firm as the shells screamed down behind them. Aelric couldn't just sit and watch, and without further instructions given to Cyclonis or his friends, he left with his weapons.

**Five minutes later, on the north wall…**

Aelric stood amongst the soldiers upon the wall. In his hand, he held a trusty sword which had served him in many a smaller fight. He looked down at the grounds outside the north gate. Thousands of Cyclonian foot soldiers lined up in hundreds of ranks, all with spears, crossbows, swords and large devices Aelric could only believe to be cannons. The shells had stopped falling. Hopefully his team and the Storm Hawks would do their part in keeping the Terra free from harm.

"Aelric!" there was a voice behind him, calling for him. Aelric turned and saw Piper and Cyclonis run to him. "Aelric! When the cruisers reach the City, they'll drop off hundreds of soldiers. What should we do? Your team has already geared up for battle." Aelric turned and looked at the opposing army.

"Do the same." He replied. Piper and Cyclonis ran back to give the order to the rest of their squad.

'_How? How could this have happened? There hasn't been a war here for two hundred years!'_ he thought to himself. He couldn't believe what he was seeing, but it would seem that for a second time, Terra Mystica would have to fight in an open conflict with Cyclonia. Then it started…

One of the cannons from the ground fired and tore a hole in the mid-left battlement, sending three soldiers falling to their deaths. Aelric's heart beat at his chest with rage. His arms shook and his eyes became piercingly hateful. From above, Talon knights began to drop from the battle cruisers, spreading their wings and firing indiscriminately at homes and markets. Cannon fire started to fly just above Aelric's head. The front row of defending soldiers drew their arrows and fired a volley into the Cyclonian ranks. At least fifty men fell, if not dead, injured on the ground, but the soldiers kept coming. There was a clatter of swords and spears against the gates. Arrows began to fly back and forth from the wall, claiming lives on both sides. Aelric stood firm and awaited the ladders to hit the wall any second now…

'Clack!' the first ladder flew up and then the next, until there were at least twelve ladders stacked up on Aelric's section of the wall, spewing Cyclonian soldiers onto the battlements. Aelric dove forwards into the thick of the fray, plunging his sword deep into the chest of a Cyclonian spearman, and then turned and greeted another with the cold, sharp steel of his blade. The blood sprayed over Aelric's chest, marking him as a primary target for enemy soldiers…

**With the Storm Hawks**** and Terra Mystican Air-forces…**

'BANG!' Aerrow's target enemy was shot clean out of the sky and spiralled down into the city centre, just missing the Condor. He gulped and hoped that the Condor would be safe from any other harm than falling Skimmers. Red flashes caught his eye again. He looked in his mirror and saw three new Talon Knights on his tail. There was another 'BANG!' and one of the knights spun out of control, smashing another one and sending him down too. Finn was close behind Aerrow, keeping watch on his rear. The third Talon dove downwards and began firing on the fleeing civilians again. Two more blue flashes smashed into the Talon's engine and the Skimmer burst into flames.

"_Don't you worry Sir! We'll handle the assault bikes, you just take care of the attackers!"_ said a member of the Terra Mystican air-force through the radio Aerrow had nabbed before getting on his ride. There was a huge 'BOOM' and a black cloud of smoke and flame appeared just short of Finn.

"Damn it!" Aerrow shouted. "They're firing unstable crystals at us! We'll have to part ways!" Finn nodded and turned back into the battle to keep the Talons busy while Aerrow tried to take out the Cruiser cannons. He flew upwards towards the Cruiser's hull and just as he was about to fire…'ZAP!!' A huge line of crystal energy darted underneath him, tearing through the Cruiser's hull and eventually ripping the whole thing in two. The two halves exploded into balls of red hot metal and slammed into the city, crushing houses and shops full of innocent people.

Aerrow was turning back, when there was a transmission on the radio.

"_For Terra Mystica!"_ Cyclonis had stolen one of the militaries skimmers and was now entering the fray against her ex-military. Aerrow looked around and saw that familiar purple haired girl flying in and out of the fight, luring her prey into the open and taking them out with a conveniently placed energy blade at the side of her new Skimmer…

**Back with Aelric…**

The soldiers defending the wall fought with furious determination. Hit after hit, they would get up again and again to ensure safety and peace. Aelric, however, was falling low on men. The influx of Cyclonian soldiers was too great and soon, if he didn't pull his men back, they would get massacred. The gate thundered with every hit from the ram. The barricades were giving way and those of the soldiers left to guard the city stood in ranks, holding their shields high to deflect enemy arrows. There was a massive 'CRASH!' and the right gate shattered and splintered across the courtyard, leaving a cloud of dust and sand. There was a gruelling shout and the Cyclonians poured in through the gate, smashing their shields and blades with those of the defenders.

The flood of infantry blocked off Aelric's only means of escape. He drove his blade into another soldier and pushed him over the wall, and sliced the legs of another, having him fall to the ground to be greeted by the point of Aelric's blade. He ran over and pushed hard on one of the ladders, sending it and the three men climbing it back to their ranks. Another five men darted up from the stairway and Aelric grabbed the man in front, pushing him down the stairs and knocking over the other soldiers. Two arrows flew just by the boy's head and into the crowd of soldiers below. Yet more soldiers jumped onto the wall, and Aelric had just two men left to fight with him.

There was a sudden jerk on Aelric's neck and he was thrown across and into a barrel of hay by his own soldiers, whom he watched as they fended off another five soldiers each, before receiving a spear's blade in the stomach. With tears of rage streaming down his face, he charged at the invading Cyclonian soldiers, jumping on top of one and stabbing him in the throat. As another soldier threw a blow at Aelric, he lifted his sword, and with such the blow the Cyclonian made to his blade, that it shattered. The soldier lifted his blade once more and readied to stab Aelric while he was down, but when the point of the man's sword came down, Aelric rolled to his left, took the sword of the soldier he just killed and forced the blade through the man's chest-plate.

Only minutes had passed since the gates were brought down and already Aelric could hear the order to fall back. Covered in enemy and allied blood alike, Aelric darted back to the citadel with the other soldiers, calling through dropped radios to get a signal to the man and women flying and fighting so bravely. Finally, after searching the wreckages of allied skimmers, he found a working radio. Aelric tuned into Aerrow's frequency and pressed the 'send' button.

**With the Storm Hawks…**

"_Damn it! Aerrow, we're falling back to the garage! Get your team out of there and we'll evacuate the survivors!"_ Aerrow received the full message. A good soldier knows when to retreat, and when you're out-numbered and the enemy won't stop coming, you retreat and live to fight another day. Aerrow tuned in to Piper's frequency.

"_Piper!" _he shouted into the microphone. _"I'm informed that we need to fall back. Get as many people as you can into the Garage! I'll find the others and give them the message!"_ Piper, being strongly loyal to the free people of Atmos, did as she was told. Within mere minutes, she had taken down three harassing assault pilots and escorted the civilians on foot. As more civilians came, more soldiers came with them, fleeing from the fight at the gate. Amongst them was Aelric, who stopped and grabbed another semi-working radio.

"_Aerrow, we've got until the survivors on the ground make it inside to __get__ inside! Hurry it up!"_ he shouted. It was just his luck that Aerrow was already on his way down with both his own team and Aelric's team, escorted by six lucky pilots who attacked a cruiser head on. As Aerrow landed, he skidded to a halt in front of Aelric, who ran out to give him the orders. "Ok, we have at least a thousand people in the Citadel. If we have any chance of getting them out of here, it's on those passenger liners. They hold five hundred each, and we have four of them." Aerrow looked behind him and could see the fire from the destroyed Cruiser getting closer to the Condor.

"I'm not leaving without the Condor! Stork, I need you to get in there and move it to safety in the docking bay!" Aerrow ordered. Stork gulped and looked up.

"B...but…" he started, but he was cut off by Aerrow again.

"Damn it Stork! Innocent people are being killed! We need that Ship out of here now!" he shouted. Stork swallowed his fear and stood to attention, saluted with a hand to his heart, and sped off on the Stork-Mobile towards the empty and vulnerable Condor. As he approached, the entrance was open, which gave him just enough space to drive his Skimmer inside for safekeeping. Once inside, all Stork need to do was initiate the take-off procedures. Running into the cockpit, he could see the opposing army marching right towards him. In his haste, he initiated all but the one damaged engine, and the Condor swerved, on the ground, in a circle, knocking down several soldiers in the front lines. Finding the switch and button to start up the left engine made Stork dizzy, but he managed it in the end, and the Condor rose into the air.

Slowly and steadily, Stork avoided the falling shells and the burning wreckages of buildings and ships alike, weaving his way back to the Citadel. There was a loud 'CRUNCH!' as the right engine scraped along the side of an old Church, half blown to pieces. With that, Stork finally made it through the city and turned around to the back of the Citadel and onto the Docking bay. Both Bays were filled with soldier and Civilian alike. As soon as he landed, the Condor was mobbed by people trying to save themselves, and Stork had no other option but to hover over the ground just so much that they couldn't reach.

"Ok, all survivors please make your way to docking bay two and board the four large shuttles in an orderly fashion! Please do not panic! Air support will be provided." shouted Irisha and Jarret, moving the survivors line by line into the passenger ships. There was a sudden 'SMASH!' and the door to the citadel began to splinter open. Everyone save Jarret, Irisha and the surviving civilians rushed to the door and pushed hard. Another thud sent several of the more severely wounded men to the ground. Aelric took the place of a man at the very side of the door, just as an opening appeared. He slammed his full weight on the door and pushed harder than he had ever done before. Out of the opening, however, came a barrage of flailing weapons. One spear, was pointed straight in, and hit Aelric square in the shoulder, slicing right through his armour and violently piercing his flesh.

Enraged, Aelric took the spear from the soldier and pulled its point from his shoulder, turned the spear around and threw it back. Here was a loud yelp and the flailing arm fell to the ground. With one final heave, the defenders pushed the gate shut again and pulled down another barricade. The survivors were almost completely evacuated. Stork had landed again and picked up as many people as he could afford to carry. The Storm Hawks boarded the Condor and Aelric, bleeding badly from his shoulder, was being accompanied to the fourth and final Passenger ship for evacuation. When he was on board, the doors closed and sealed, and the engines creaked loudly, sending the large vessel from the landing bay and into the sky.

**On the Condor…**

Stork was surrounded by thankful people, all cheering his name and patting him on the back. For once, he really was the _actual_ hero. He did something that nobody else could, and he was proud. But thinking about his own want to be a hero brought back the visions of the city burning under his feet. For that, his pride dissolved and he became depressed. Of five thousand men, women and children, only one and a half thousand people made it out of the city.

The Condor was in bad shape and needed heavy repairs. Unfortunately, he couldn't land anywhere on the surrounding Terras because it would be too easy a target for patrol forces. The survivors would need a place to stay. As far as Stork knew, Terra Atmosia would be the best place to get some repairs done and have the refugees taken care of…

**On passenger Liner Four…**

Aelric hissed as the needle punctured his skin again, pulling behind it a long, thin string. To his left was Zharr, holding an elderly woman and carrying her gently to a bed. On his right was Cyclonis, shaking, pale and her hands covered in blood…his blood. Aelric laughed and grabbed Cyclonis' arm with his good hand and grinned.

"Hey. I'm fine. Don't worry about me." Cyclonis turned and grasped his hand tightly. Tears began to drop from her lowered head.

"I don't want to lose you again…" she gasped through her crying. Aelric lifted her head with his hand and looked at her with a serious yet friendly face.

"Don't worry…"he started. "You never did." Cyclonis smiled and looked at her hands. "Go and get cleaned up. You're a mess." He said softly. Cyclonis nodded, and headed into the closest bathroom to wash the blood from her hands…


	7. Chapter 7: Friends and Traitors

* * *

**Chapter 7: Friends and Traitors**

Aerrow and the team had their hands full with the injured residents of Terra Mystica they had evacuated. Stork had been thinking for ages on a place to land which wouldn't be too obvious for the Cyclonian army, Piper, Finn and Junko were rushing back and forth with bandages, anaesthetics and other medical supplies while Aerrow and Radar attended to the needs of the other passengers. Finn darted out of the medical cupboard again.

"Piper!" he shouted. Piper turned and ran aver to him, taking another two rolls of bandages from his arms.

"That's all the bandages left. Think we'll have enough?" She looked at the rolls and then the people in the room next to her. One of them had a large gash over his arm and another across his chest. She frowned sadly.

"I'm not really sure." She replied. Junko rushed past her and Finn and into the room three doors ahead, holding what was left of the medical drugs. "Finn, you help Junko with his patients. I'll do what I can for these ones." Finn nodded and darted off to the room Junko had gone to. Piper sighed and walked into the room next to her. The man on the bed squirmed in pain and grasped the edge of the bed with his good hand.

"Tell me, for real…" the man breathed out. "You think we'll be ok? Please don't lie." Piper stopped and looked at the man's desperate face. Her eyes started to fill with water as she tried not to tell him that the possibility of having everyone on the ship survive was very low. "My wife's in the room to right. Is she ok?" Piper turned as the tears started to push themselves from her eyelids. She had just been in her room. It didn't look good. She was on a high dose of anaesthetics and her body was covered in burns and deep cuts. Piper couldn't bear to turn and see his face as she told him, so she had no other choice but to say that she was fine. The man gave out a sigh of relief and smiled, before hissing in pain again. Piper turned back around and took the man's left arm gently, unravelling on of the rolls of bandages and tying over the wound.

Stork had sat at the wheel of the Condor for hours now. He couldn't land anywhere like Terra Gale because of the distance from there to Cyclonia and landing in Terra Atmosia would be far too obvious, and if an arm like the one that hit Terra Mystica was to get there, nobody would escape. He needed to think of somewhere large, but secluded. Then it suddenly hit him like a two-tonne wrecking ball; Terra Vapos.

The crew had landed there months back, when Finn was held as a hero who would sacrifice himself for the people's freedom. Grinning widely, Stork looked over at the map he had hanging on the wall. He had marked down the location of Terra Vapos last time they had landed there, and now their discovery would come in most handy, having been going in the one direction for hours took them close to the Terra. Pleased with himself, Stork tapped into the radios of the four following Passenger Liners.

"_You guys! I think I might have found the perfect place to land."_ He said over the radio. With that, Stork made a sharp turn to the right, and luckily enough, all of the liners behind him followed. After another ten minutes of searching through the clouds, Stork noticed a familiar break in the cloud-line. He descended, and as his map had shown him, there was Terra Vapos, it's large, square form looming out from the second layer of clouds. There were several gasps as the passengers aboard the Condor and the liners all swarmed to the front to get a look.

On the ground, Stork could see the soldiers line up and form a defensive circle around the landing area. Upon landing, more soldiers started to appear, until the ships were completely surrounded. Stork opened the entrance ramp and out spilled several desperate refugees. Caught by surprise, the surrounding soldiers raised their weapons, causing the refugees to panic and run back to the ship. Alerted by the commotion, Aerrow ran out of the ship and into the oncoming crowd. The surrounding soldiers parted and in walked the king. Surprised, the king chuckled, and then laughed happily.

"Aerrow? I'm surprised to see you here again, and with so many people. What might we do for you?" he asked. Aerrow shook his head.

"Long story short, we need somewhere to house these people and get them healed up. Can you help us with that?" he asked back as more refugees ran out of the Passenger Liners. The King was shocked. Never before had he seen so many scared people at one time. Hastily he nodded.

"What's happened?"

"A Cyclonian attack and it was a big one."

"And you have brought these people _here_?!"

"It's the only other Terra that _isn't_ marked on a map. We had no other choice!" The King sighed and looked at Aerrow seriously.

"We will see what we can do for them, but they can't stay here forever. I will not risk losing my people to the Cyclonians." He said sternly. Aerrow nodded and signalled the 'all clear' to the refugees, which ran forwards and bowed to the king thankfully as they passed. Aelric and Cyclonis were some of the last people off the fourth Liner, along with Mortz, Zharr, Irisha, Shyall, Jarret and Sheela.

"Nice spot…" Aelric said, dazzled by his surroundings. Finn, Junko and Piper ran out of the Condor with some wheeled beds carrying injured passengers. The surrounding soldiers, who were now standing at ease, looked in terror as one after the other, someone with half their face covered in bloody bandages was reeled past them. Zharr reeled out another passenger from the fourth Vessel and charged past the guards. His passenger was an old man who had been losing an unbelievable amount of blood.

"Damn it! We need medics over _here_! We can't carry all of these people to the city in time!" Shyall shouted, tending to yet another injured passenger, with his lower arm turned the opposite way around and gushing with blood. There was a period of eerie silence, only backed by the sounds of agonising screams in the background. Cyclonis sighed and placed her head in her hands.

"It's all my fault…" she sighed out. Aelric turned with a cocked eyebrow.

"What do you mean 'It's your fault'? This wasn't your doing." He replied. Cyclonis lowered her head and clasped her hands over it as the tears started to fall.

"IT'S MY FAULT!! If I hadn't come to the terra, everyone would be alive!" Aelric walked over and lifted Cyclonis' head with his good arm.

"It is _not_ your fault. Don't blame yourself for what's happened here. I wont let you take the burden." He said softly and calmly. In what would seem like a split second, Cyclonis wrapped her arms around him in a vice-like hug.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" she continued to cry, tightening her grasp around him. Looking around at his crew and the present members of the Storm Hawks, Aelric shrugged his shoulders and patted Cyclonis on the back in a desperate attempt to comfort her.

"Um…it's ok. I'm sure the people who didn't make it out of the city are still alive." Finn said, giving Cyclonis a rub on the shoulder. Piper, Junko, Stork and Aerrow all looked at him in awe.

"Finn?" Piper started. "You actually said something smart for once." Finn glared at her.

"Shut up." He muttered back to her. Cyclonis sniffed and smiled a little, which in turn made Finn smile triumphantly. The distraught ex-empress detached herself from Aelric's chest and wiped away her tears.

"Cyclonis…plea-" Aelric was cut of by Cyclonis laughing to herself a little, still fighting back tears.

"Don't call me that, please. It's Lark…" she said weakly. "…My name's Lark Cyclonis. Just call me Lark…ok?" Aelric nodded and took her shoulder.

"Ok then. Lark…please get some rest. It's been a long day." He suggested lightly. "We'll handle the injured. You just focus on resting up, ok?" Lark sniffed again and nodded, turning back and heading towards the Condor when _'SKREEEE!!'_

A large, spiky, gold and white skimmer-bike screeched to a halt behind her, and riding it was a smug, dark, traitorous leader…

"Tarin? Where were you?! The terra was-" Again, Aelric was cut off.

"-attacked? I know." He growled, shooting a glare at Aerrow. "If those freeloaders hadn't landed there, I wouldn't have needed to take it out!" The two teams looked at Tarin with astonishment.

"What!? _That_ was _YOU_!?" Aelric shouted, bearing his teeth and unsheathing his stolen, notched sword. "Do you have any idea how many people you've killed!?" Tarin grinned, which turned into a laugh.

"So what? A few hundred people get killed in the process? Pah! They'll be under better rule anyway…Mine! No more 'People's council'! They'll do what they're told to, when they're told to!" Aelric lunged forwards and slammed his sword down at Tarin, but to no avail. The blade snapped in two as it hit off the traitor's shoulder piece. Tarin laughed again and thrust his fist into Aelric's stomach…hard. The Sky-Knight dropped to the ground and hissed.

"How could you do this?" he growled. Tarin grinned and put his face up to Aelric's.

"Because I wanted to." He said. With that, Tarin shoved his ex-comrade to the ground and darted off into the surrounding mist. Aelric picked himself up off the ground and grasped his stomach.

"Damn it! We'll have to go after him later. There's too much to give up on here." He wheezed. Zharr ran past him and into the second passenger liner.

"You're damn right! Now get to work, we need to get these people to the city already." he ordered, grasping the handle of the closest bed and hauling it out of the entry door. With the order, both of the squads parted and began moving the injured out of the passenger liners…

* * *

Two hours had passed. The refugees had all been moved to the city but the Condor was still in need of serious repairs. One of the engines was malfunctioning -as in it wouldn't even start up- and a lot of the armour needed replaced due to heavy fire taken during the assault. Aerrow and Stork had their hands full fixing up the skimmers, Piper had moved off to the city to help with the injured passengers and everyone else was busy taking apart the Condor's old engine and replacing it.

"Ok, this isn't going to work, eh." Mortz shouted down from the engine chamber. "I don't think there's anywhere to get this kinda stuff round here anyways." Aelric wiped sweat from his brow and threw his wrench down.

"Your probably right Mortz, but we have to find the problem and sort it before we can get off the ground, new engine or not." He replied exhaustedly. Jarret was seep inside the main chamber of the engine, searching for disconnected wires and damage to vital aspects of the chamber.

"Um…guys?" he shouted back to Mortz and Aelric. "I think I found out what's up with the engine!" The two people at the end of the chamber rushed over and turned on their torches. There was a huge hole in the crystal chamber, which then continued through the crystal and into the hull of the Condor. Mortz and Jarret looked at each other.

"What you think did that, eh?" asked Mortz, getting up close to the hole and touching the edge. He automatically drew back his hand and put his finger in his mouth. Aelric and Jarret raised an eyebrow.

"Hot?" they asked in unison. Mortz shook his head and took his finger out of his mouth.

"Freezing." He replied. Jarret inspected the damage one last time.

"Well, whoever it was, they must have had one hell of a crystal to get through the whole thing."

"So, what you think we'll need, eh?"

"Just a new set of fuel crystals should do the trick. I'll head off to the City and pick some up. In the meantime, you two do what you can with that hole." Aelric nodded and took the welder from his belt.

Meanwhile, Stork had been fixing up the skimmers with new armour plating. All they had was scraps and if they had to fight, the armour wouldn't last long in the slightest. Bashing the final bolt into place, Stork sat up and groaned.

"Um…Aerrow, we're going to need a _lot _of allies to help get the terra back. With any misfortune, the whole army will still be stationed there."

"Agreed, but who's going to be mad enough to take on an entire army?"

"Um…perhaps a…another army." Stork suggested. Aerrow pondered in thought. The only other terra with a significant military force was Terra Atmosia, but they were fighting on two fronts already. There was the military on Terra Vapos, but like the king said, he wouldn't let his men be killed by the Cyclonians. The only other option was to group up as many sky-knight squadrons as possible and hope for the best, but even _that_ seemed impossible just due to the overwhelming odds.

As the duo thought about the options, several refugees stopped by them and saluted.

"Sir!" said the front-most one, standing about shoulder high to the other refugees. "The Cyclonians killed my brother sir. If I can assist in any way, then please, let us know." Aerrow looked at the group and then jumped to his feet with an idea.

"Yeah, can you round up all of the healthier refugees and soldiers you can and gather them here. I have a plan." The group saluted again and jogged back into the city. Stork looked at Aerrow in confusion.

"A plan? What plan?" he asked eagerly. Aerrow tapped his chin.

"I'm going to see if I can route a fighting force from the refugees." He started. Stork choked and grasped his head.

"The refugees!? We don't even know if they can fly, let alone fight trained men!"

"Yeah, but with the extra squadrons and the military strength from Atmosia, we might just have enough-"

"-and what if we don't manage to round up some squadrons and what if the Atmosian military has their hands full?" Stork cut in, panicking at the thought of sending civilians into war. Aerrow sighed resiliently.

"I really don't know…" he replied.

* * *

"Ok! All done here, eh!" shouted Mortz from the Condor's engine chamber. He clambered down the rope and detached it so that Junko could try and fire up the engine. There was a loud, long creak, and then a sudden 'BANG' and the engine shot into action, spewing blue, crystal enhanced fire from it's back. Mortz leapt into the air with joy and Aelric sighed with relief.

"Great, we got the thing running…Now what?" he asked with a scratch to the head. Mortz shrugged his shoulders and jumped up onto the entrance hallway, followed closely by Aelric. Aerrow and Stork ran almost blindly out onto the deck to see what the noise was, and then cheered victoriously.

"Wait…how long will the engine actually last?" asked Stork, bringing around an abrupt silence to the cheering. Mortz laughed to himself and grinned smugly.

"As long as it's supposed to, eh." Stork sighed in relief and headed back to the skimmers, followed by Aerrow.

"So Stork?" he asked in almost a whisper. "…back to your old self yet?" The green skinned Merb looked up and shook his head with an almost content smile.

"Wouldn't count on it." He replied, picking up a welder and repairing a small gash in the Stork-mobile's side. "Besides, I still haven't seen my fair share of the field action yet." Aerrow scratched his head and raised an eyebrow.

"_Fair share of the action_?" he asked in a confused tone. Stork looked back up and sighed.

"I would have imagined you'd have guessed that I'd be less annoyed if I could get a slice of the _actual_ fighting, rather than just sit in the ship watching you and the others do it all." Aerrow almost gaped. He shook himself out of his stupefied trance and grinned stupidly.

"Um…well, you're not exactly fighting material-" Stork cut him off with a glare. He rolled up the dirty, ripped suit jacket's sleeve and flexed his bicep, which bulged out considerably. Aerrow coughed with surprise. "…wow…maybe I was wrong." he breathed out correctively. Stork put down his tools and walked over to the exit.

"Yeah…" he growled angrily, shooting another glance at Aerrow. "…very wrong!" With that, Stork slammed the door shut behind him, causing Aerrow to wince.

"Um…sorry?"

* * *

Aerrow had called up the rest of the team, including Aelric's squadron, to the deck of the Condor for an important meeting. Finn, Junko, Piper and Radar all darted back into the Condor and made their way up until Piper noticed Stork was missing.

"Hey, Finn?" she asked, stopping and looking around the hallway. "Um…where's Stork?" Finn turned around but continues to head towards the deck, backwards.

"I saw him go around the back. He looked kinda peeved off though." Piper looked behind her. "I really wouldn't talk to him right now." Finn continued to warn her. Oblivious to his warnings, Piper dashed down the hallway like a bullet…

* * *

Stork was sitting on the railing around the back-deck with the face of a condemned man. Piper opened the door behind him quietly in hopes that he wouldn't notice. Stork turned his head a little and looked over his shoulder.

"Oh…hi…" he muttered depressingly. Piper frowned and walked up behind him.

"What's wrong? There's a meeting at the front of the Condor. Aren't you coming?" she asked, putting a comforting hand on Stork's shoulder. Stork turned and sighed.

"Nah, I already know what's going on." He groaned sadly. Piper gave him a confused look and sat down next to him.

"What's happening? Is something bad about to happen?"

"Aerrow's asking the refugees to take up arms." Piper gasped and covered her mouth with horror.

"Oh my god!" she mumbled through her hands. "Has he gone insane? We can't fight a Cyclonian army with _that_!" Stork nodded and looked back to the sunset.

"Yeah, I know, but it's a risk we have to take. Aerrow won't let the Ace get away with what he did to the Terra, and neither will the survivors. From behind them was a loud cheer from the gathering refugees. Piper sighed sadly and leant on Stork's side.

"You think we'll get enough people to help fight?" she asked regretfully. Stork looked at her and smiled a little.

"We'll pull through. We always pull through." He replied. Piper could feel his muscles tense up, and therefore knew he was lying. But even though he was lying, there was still that little sliver of hope in his voice that made her feel reassured. The Condor's engine roared and Stork jumped, falling back off the railing and on top of Piper in a very awkward position. The blue haired girl underneath him giggled and blushed as brightly as her friend.

"you certainly have extreme ways of relieving yourself of depression Stork." she said sarcastically. Stork scrambled off of her and tried to regain his posture.

"Ah…th…that was an a…accident!" he stuttered embarrassingly, turning away to hide his face. Piper stood up and rubbed his shoulders.

"We should go up to the front-deck. Even if we get the refugees to join up with us, they'll need the motivation." Piper stated softly. Stork sighed and turned around again.

"Ok, I'll go out there, but I'm not supporting this plan."

"Neither am I." Piper replied sadly. "But like I said, the refugees need motivation. That means we need to stick together." With a reluctant nod of the head, Stork headed back into the condor and towards the main deck at the front of the ship, followed closely by Piper…

* * *

"My fellow citizens and brothers-in-arms," Aelric's voice echoed across the wide space in front of the Condor and across the massive crowd of cheering onlookers. "…Not only have the Cyclonians defiled our home, they have destroyed our lives and scarred the very fabric of our society. Within those walls are at least another one thousand innocent people, being mistreated and forced to work in newly placed mines. Now, it falls to us to bring peace back to our lands and rid Atmos of Cyclonian tyranny." Aelric took Shyall's sword from her belt and gripped the handle tightly.

"I will ask this of you but once!" he shouted over the vast crowd. "Will you sand with us!?" The crowd below him let out a single massive cheer. Aelric raised Shyall's sword above his head and pointed it's tip straight upwards. "For the lives, lost and shattered!" he chanted, which was joined by the Terra Mystican guard and refugees. As the crowd below continued to chant his phrase, Aelric walked over to Aerrow and the rest of the crew.

"You recon the majority of them will help out?" Aerrow asked, taking Aelric's shoulder before he could leave the scene. The blue haired boy turned and nodded.

"Don't worry. I'm pretty sure these people will do whatever it takes to get their homes back, even if it means a bitter end." Aerrow, Finn and Junko looked at each other with a little uncertainty in their eyes.

"Yeah, about that." Aerrow began, "…I'd rather not have them meet a 'bitter end', but thank you for helping out." Aelric bowed politely and exited through the main door, leaving it open for Stork and Piper to pass through. Finn looked over the edge of the Condor and at the large, cheering crowd of soldiers and civilians.

"You do know that we can't turn back now if something goes horribly wrong, right?" he asked. Aerrow sighed and turned to see King Agar step onto the deck. The king sighed with a sense of regret.

"I have told you that I will not have my men and women die by Cyclonian hands…" he started. Aerrow had a gut feeling that something bad was about to happen. "However…" Aerrow's heart almost stopped beating with the previous tension. "…You cannot do this alone. If you are to have an army, they best be better trained to fight. Sarhya!" A female soldier at the front of the crowd stepped forwards and saluted.

"Yes, my Liege?" she shouted up over the roaring of the crowd. Agar pointed to her team.

"You and your team are to assist the Storm hawks!" he ordered. The Sarhya bowed low and looked to Aerrow.

"Sir! Just give the order." Aerrow looked at the king and smiled happily.

"Thanks." He said. King Agar turned and tapped his ear.

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that. What did you say?" Aerrow sighed and chuckled to himself.

"I said…" he shouted, "…Thank you for helping us!" King Agar nodded his head in agreement and walked off, leaving the Storm Hawks giggling away at his deafness. Aerrow broke free of his chuckling and turned his attention back to Sarhya. "Ok…um…I guess we need to find some squadrons to help us out. We'll head off to Terra Saharr, you take Terra Blizzaris." Sarhya saluted again and gathered her team. Finn sighed and growled.

"Did you _have_ to go for those 'Third Degree' guys?" he asked, leaning on the railing and resting his head on his hand. Piper chuckled to herself sarcastically.

"Maybe you can live up to that bargain you made with them?" she laughed. Finn pouted and walked off, followed sneakily by Sheela…again.

"Ok, I suggest we leave now. Saharr isn't too far from Cyclonia, which means that the Cyclonian army might be on their way there, if they aren't there already." Aerrow said in a very serious tone. Finn turned and darted back onto the deck.

"Hey, hey! What about Terra Gale!? We can't just leave those guys open like that!" he shouted, causing Junko to hold his ear.

"Ow…don't do that, ok?" Junko asked, nudging Finn's shoulder. Finn turned and smiled stupidly.

"Uh…sorry dude." Aerrow took Finn's shoulder and smiled confidently.

"Don't worry Finn. We haven't forgotten about Wren and Dove." Finn raised an eyebrow.

"Wren can stay all he likes, it's Dove I'm after." He replied sarcastically, only to receive a smack to the back of the head by Piper. "Ouch! I was only kidding!" Stork headed over to the door and opened it.

"So…are we ready?" he asked. Aerrow nodded in confirmation, and headed inside the ship, followed by Juno, Finn, Piper, Radarr (who had taken his time to stop playing around with the skimmers), and lastly, Stork…


End file.
